By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
Florence city council met this week for a special meeting to take care of some items before the end of the month. On the agenda was discussion and possible action on a zoning text amendment concerning household agriculture and household pets.
“Thank you, Angie (Angela Cable) for coming to multiple meetings and giving us the information on urban hens and all the benefits about them,” said Councilmember Lesley Chambers, leading the discussion. “At the same time I do appreciate that a lot of people don’t want to live next to urban hens. Here’s my conclusion. Basically, I trust the citizens of Florence to keep urban hens responsibly, I trust that if someone wants to take the time to file a permit and buy a coop and obligate themselves to care for hens I trust them to do so with pride. We shouldn’t force people to buy eggs from a grocery store instead of enjoying organic eggs from their own back yard. Florence is a wealthy city, and we should do everything we can to ensure that nobody goes hungry. I hope that the other council members will also decide to respect and trust our residents.”
Councilmember Jenna Kemper immediately agreed, but said she would like to discuss the matter further to be able to understand it better.
Director of Business and Community Development Josh Hunt spoke up, saying Florence specifically does not allow farm animals, and chickens are a part of that.
“In the memo that I laid out, I think the first thing you have to consider is if you allow one type of farm animal, and chickens are farm animals, its an agriculture type use in a property that is zoned suburban residential, and my opinion, talking with our legal, it’s a slippery slope, if you allow one animal, why not allow ducks, why not allow bee hives, why not pigs,” he said. “Some of the other cities have ordinances that they referenced; I don’t believe it is in the best interest of a city to pass ordinances like that. We are a little different in that our zoning regulations specifically do not allow pet farm animals in a residential zone.”
In Boone County the text has to be amended. He said the first issue is the definition of farm animals, and the city worked on that definition with the Planning Commission for over a year. He stated that that was based on a court recommendation in a lawsuit that ran for years and was related to chickens. He said there is a lot of work associated with trying to change the definition, and then there are the accessory structures. He said there is a whole gamut of definitions for chickens and their accessory structures.
“I have faith that you all can handle it,” Chambers said. “I think that when this ordinance was
passed, to begin with, it was during Covid, and from my understanding a lot of people did not know it was passed. We have citizens asking for it, we should do everything we can to keep them happy. We are being paid very well to do this job. We can take the time to listen to their desires. It is a very reasonable request.”
Councilmember Patricia Wingo reminded people that the lawsuit that was filed against the city of Florence and dragged on for years also concerned chickens, and she said the judge told them their
definition of household pets wasn’t strong enough.
“It took us over a year to come up with the text that was approved in 2021,” she said. “This has
been looked at up one side and down another, and discussed repeatedly. We had very few people who
expressed any interest in having hens or chickens in their yard. I understand what Angie is saying, I understand what folks are saying–I do. But the decisions we make have to consider the entire community.”
Councilmember Kemper lives in a neighborhood run by an HOA, or Homeowners Association, and she said people tend to live in the 40 plus HOA neighborhoods in the city so that they don’t have chickens living next to them. But, she said, if people don’t live in an HOA why not allow that freedom to have chickens.
Several people got up to speak, all in favor of having chickens. Most of the residents and non-
residents cited government overreach, and stated that as Americans they should have the freedom to do whatever they want in their backyard.
One Marine veteran said they just celebrated Memorial day and she felt that if people wanted to
have chickens they should be able to, and it makes council look bad to not allow people to do what they want.
Lesley Chambers pointed out that no one was there to talk against owning chickens. She said she thought they ought to move forward and figure it out, saying she didn’t think all that many people
would even want to take on the responsibility of owning chickens.
James Smith, who doesn’t live in the Florence city limits, challenged the council, saying during
the Hengehold lawsuit the judge brought up that zoning laws were arbitrary and difficult to pin down.
“That is the crux of the matter, it is exactly the Hengehold case, and exactly because of that the
process was followed, it was a public hearing in Planning Commission, and now we have a new text, so what you’re talking about previously may be true, but now we have the zoning text in place, and I don’t think it is the same applicability to what you’re talking about,” said Mayor Aubuchon. “So it has changed.”
Angela Cable said she understood that the text has changed, although the lawsuit involved someone who had 48 chickens that were free ranging. She didn’t understand why the text could not be changed so she could own 6 hens in a runner. She again said as an American she should be able to
own her chickens.
Another resident quoted the constitution, and attempted to define ‘pursuit of happiness’ for the
council.
“You have no right to tell people what they can and cannot do on their own property,” she stated
loudly. “The city is not an HOA! This is not acceptable!”
Councilmember David A. Osborne spoke up and quietly thanked people for coming. He asked how many people have lived in the city for 40 or more years, and two people raised their hands. He pointed out that people have moved to Florence because the city offers a lot.
“We owe our residents that live in Florence, whether they live in Hillcrest, or Farmview, everywhere, we owe something to them,” explained Osborne. “But at the same time, you owe your obligation to the laws that have been passed in the city. Some of them are harsh, some of them you
don’t like, some of them I don’t like.”
Osborne stated that the ordinances were for the best interests of the city.
“If we did not have these kind of ordinances, do you think people are going to move into Florence,
next to a $200,000 dollar house, and you see dogs running around, and you see chickens, and you see donkeys,” he said. ” I know it’s farfetched, but it does happen. These rules have to be enforced, because I don’t want to live next door to somebody where I hear a donkey or I hear a chicken or a dog running around in their yard. I disagree with the lady—we do have a life here. If we didn’t, this would be a chaotic country, Boone County and the city of Florence. I support what we did back in 2020, I support it now, because it is the only reasonable right thing to do.”
Councilmember Gary Winn called for a vote, and Chambers made a motion to direct the city to request the Planning commission review the zoning text with regard to household agriculture. The roll call vote was Lesley Chambers and Jenna Kemper yes, and Mel Carroll, Gary Winn, Patricia Wingo, and David Osborne no, so the motion failed.
The dozen or so people who wanted council to change their minds were upset, and one resident stated that six people were making a decision for all the people of Florence. To which Mayor Aubuchon said typically that is how government works, people elect representatives to decide what is best for the city.
Angela Cable said she would be running for council the next time elections came up.
I love how David Osborne is on record saying that he doesn’t want to live next to somebody who has a dog running around. And then he equated a dog and a chicken to a donkey! He’s clearly the A** and the one person that I want to unseat! I’ll be running to unseat someone who is too blind to see what our residents want in our city.
Another great story that was written without bias!! Great job, Patricia!!