The City of Delta’s Agricultural Advisory Committee has endorsed a proposed new bylaw allowing homeowners to have backyard chickens.
The amendment to the city’s animal control act, which would be reviewed after one year, was discussed at a committee meeting earlier this month.
Civic staff went over the proposed regulations including an annual $50 licence fee for each property.
Each chicken will need to be tagged to help with identifying any loose birds, while chicken owners will also need to register with the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture.
A licensee must have at least two chickens. This is because chickens are social animals and a solitary bird has a lower quality of life, the committee was told.
The plan would be to allow hens only, not roosters.
The proposed bylaw will be presented to council for consideration and a public hearing will be held if it gets preliminary approval.
Council this summer gave staff the go-ahead to amend the zoning bylaw to allow chickens to be kept on additional single-detached residential lots.
In response to letters and a petition requesting Delta consider allowing backyard chickens to be kept, council referred the matter to the AAC. The committee received a presentation from local citizens Kristin Roberts and Claire Foster.
According to a Delta staff report, the petition presented to the committee collected more than 800 signatures and a Facebook Group has more than 180 members from Delta who support changing the regulations.
The issue was last brought up nine years ago when council held a workshop on a proposal by Tsawwassen resident Vera Ganderton, who wanted the municipality to create a test area allowing two to four hens per backyard. She also submitted a petition with over 100 names.
