City to rule on chicken keeping

The Sarasota City Commission is expected this evening to decide whether to allow residents to keep chickens in their yards.

Supporters, who formed a group called Citizens Lobbying for Urban Chicken Keeping, or CLUCK, said chickens are no more noisy or smelly than dogs or other pets and believe that chickens are unfairly held to a higher standard.

They said chickens allow owners to have their own source of fresh eggs, teach children about sources of food and responsible pet owning and provide fertilizer for plants.

Chicken-keeping supporters had agreed to a number of restrictions, including putting enclosures 10 feet from their property line, chickens kept only in the backyard, no roosters, no slaughtering and chickens only allowed at single-family homes.

Despite a city staff recommendation that it support the measure, the Planning Board voted against the measure in November.

Contact Robin Roy at [email protected].