The first few meetings of the Sustainable Food Policy Board were a little hard for me to sit through, but they had their legs firmly under them now. A lot of good ground was covered at this month’s meeting. A big shout out to the Chair, Marla Camp, for managing the clock with an iron fist (they almost got done inside their scheduled time).
At this month’s meeting Rooster was on the menu. The board finalized a recommendation to the City Council on a proposed ordinance change (Amendment C20-2009-019 to City Code Section 25-2-893). Fowl lovers will rejoice at the Boards pro-rooster position. My kneejerk reaction was “ban, baby, ban!”, but after listening to all the information, it makes sense not to ban roosters. There are already plenty of ordinances on the books to deal with pets, noise and animals in the city. Section 3-2-2 covers noisy animals. A rooster crowing is just like a dog barking. It’s a noise complaint, call 311. We also have Section 3-2-16 “Enclosure for Fowl” ordinance (50′ distance from a neighbor’s home or business). And, if we are all trying to live up to this “Keep Austin Weird” thing, a couple of crazy low-flying fowl could only help! (I’m looking at you 78704.)
The proposal is still in process. The City Planning Commission meeting is in March.
Next Sustainable Food Policy Board meeting : February 22, 2010