MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake City Council tabled a proposal to allow chickens and rabbits in the city.

The proposal came from the planning commission after it received a letter requesting the city change its code. Presently the city code defines "the keeping, permitting or harboring of any fowl, pigeons (or) rabbits" as a nuisance and prohibits it. 

Planning Commission Chair Mitch Molitor pointed out other cities, such as Wenatchee and Spokane Valley, have adopted ordinances allowing chickens and rabbits in the city limits.

"You can look at the ordinance, the maximum you can have is six chickens. There are no roosters," he said. "As we annex, we're definitely annexing people who have these animals already. As we annex them, they're in a quandary. Do they get rid of everything, or do they live outside the law because a lot of them are going to keep small animals anyway."

Molitor pointed out the ordinances in other cities are strict about what they allow. The Wenatchee ordinance allows four small animals per lot. For lots larger than a half of an acre, Wenatchee allows up to 12 small farm animals.

The ordinance also requires the property to be maintained in a sanitary condition, so it doesn't smell, breed flies, create dust or other nuisances, according to Moses Lake records.

"So if somebody sticks a rooster in there a legitimate complaint could be brought forth because in that there is a thing that says, 'No roosters,'" Molitor said. "This isn't anything that is excessive because on smaller areas we're talking about very small amounts of chickens."

If the council agreed to move forward with the proposal, people wouldn't need to get conditional use permits to have chickens in the city limits, he said. The proposal isn't meant to allow farms inside the city, saying the poultry is more meant to keep as pets or 4-H projects.

"We're going to see a bunch more people be able to come make chicken coops for 4-H," Molitor said. "We didn't reinvent the wheel on this one. It's a direct copy from Wenatchee's law that they passed. That they have amended. Then we went back and then we took it, and they had 12 chickens ... and the planning commission plopped that down to six."

Councilmember Richard Pearce pointed out the ordinance prohibiting livestock in the city came about because residents complained.

"I know some of these places adopted this ordinance (allowing some livestock in the city) recently, but they put some pretty strong restrictions on here," he said. "People don't read the fine print often and next thing you know you've got major contaminants right next to your back fence."

Councilmember Dick Deane didn't want to see a change in the present ordinance, saying he contacted the people in charge of the Moses Lake High School FFA and discovered no students had chickens as a projects.

"The instructor up there indicates he has seven pigs that he has currently housed for students at his own farm, but that is outside the city," he said. "He had no requests for rabbits, zero requests since he has been there."

Deane cited an article which stated Wenatchee's ordinances will be reviewed in a year. 

"Everybody I've mentioned this to and I've made this quite an issue, I've asked their opinion ... and every one has been opposed to it, having something like this in their neighborhood," he said. "The questions come up. What does it do the value of my property? Where am I on dust? Where am I on lice and the little varmints that go along with these little animals?"

Deane asked if the city allows people annexed into the city to maintain their farm animals.

"We really haven't had to deal with chickens or rabbits, but when we have had annexations with regards to large farm animals, there really hasn't been many of those either, they usually come in as a non-conforming use," City Manager Joe Gavinski said.

Deane continued, asking if the city had annexed farming areas recently, saying most of the annexations recently had been industrial areas.

"Usually the annexations we have are industrial or bare land intended for residential development," Gavinski said. 

Councilmember David Curnel said a mechanism already exists for people to have chickens on their property through the use of conditional use permits.

"I would be very much against having it in the central part of our city," he said. "I think I agree with Mr. Deane that a lot of people would feel that way."

He also pointed out Wenatchee's ordinance requires the manure pile to be 75 feet away from other residences.

"I don't know about any of you, but I don't know if I want a manure pile 75 feet away from my property line," Curnel said. "So I have some big concerns about this written the way it is."

Councilmember Brent Reese also said he wasn't sure about the proposal and it would cause more problems than it is worth.

"I'm sure we would get a lot of complaints ... before there was anything happening," he said. 

Reese suggested tabling the proposal since Mayor Jon Lane and Councilmember Bill Ecret weren't at the meeting.