By Michael Bennett
Local Journalism Initiative
The Ridgetown Independent News
Chatham-Kent council voted against administration’s recommendation to extend the backyard chicken pilot program into next year.
Instead, the new council will decide the future of backyard chickens.
Administration asked that the pilot program, scheduled to end on Nov. 4, be extended to May 31, 2027, because of the timing of the 2026 municipal election.
Administration believed the extension would give the new council enough time to become familiar with the program, receive the final report, evaluate it, and make an informed decision about its future.
However, council voted 9-8 against extending the program at its Sept. 14 meeting.
Administration will prepare a report to council with the pilot results and any recommendations on the program’s future.
Judy Shantz, director of municipal governance/clerk, said the final report will come back to council as early as its Nov. 23 meeting.
At that time, council will determine whether to continue, modify or discontinue the backyard chicken program.
Council approved the two-year pilot program at its Nov. 4, 2024, meeting, allowing up to 10 hens on properties in rural residential or village residential zones, except in Erieau.
Eligible residents needed to apply for a permit, meet all applicable bylaw requirements, and pay the initial permit fee of $400 – which included $200 for an on-site inspection by Pet and Wildlife Rescue – before a permit could be issued to ensure compliance with the backyard chicken regulations outlined in the bylaw.
There is also an annual renewal fee of $125.
Nancy Havens, manager of licensing services, told council three applications were submitted but that no permits have been issued in the two years since the pilot program began.
“However, they didn’t meet the zoning, so (they) were denied,” Havens said of the applications,
Havens added that the municipality has spent about $30,000 on the program, including $26,300 to Pet and Wildlife Rescue enforcement and $4,000 for a coop at PAWR’s animal shelter to house chickens removed from properties where they are being kept, contrary to the bylaw.
Jim Brackett made a deputation on behalf of the Kent Federation of Agriculture, asking council not to extend the pilot program but to follow the two-year timeline it originally approved.
“The current council has considerably more experience with this issue,” Brackett said, referring to the extension because of the election. “This council approved the pilot, has dealt with the debates, understands why the pilot was created and has had the opportunity to hear from residents and stakeholders over the past two years.”
Brackett said in the KFA’s view, this experience is an important reason for the current council to receive the final evaluation and complete the process previously established.
South Kent Coun. Ryan Doyle said the fees made the cost too expensive for residents to seek a permit.
“The uptake hasn’t been very good because we’ve basically cost people out of making sense to do this,” Doyle said. “You’re not going to get chickens to try and save money when you have to spend $400 in the first place and then $200 (actually $125) a year.”
Doyle suggests that when the issue comes back, council be given the option of eliminating the on-site inspection as a cost-saving measure.
When council approved the pilot program at its Nov. 4, 2024 meeting, Doyle’s amendment to reduce the initial fee to $200 and the annual fee to $50 was defeated 13-3.
