TOWER— The city’s planning and zoning commission adopted a handful of revisions to the proposed new chicken ordinance during a regular meeting held Tuesday. The new language would somewhat loosen the requirements for daily cleaning of chicken coops, acknowledging that the requirement may be in conflict with common chicken rearing strategies, like deep bedding.
Instead, the commission approved language that required the removal of fecal matter “regularly, as conditions dictate.”
The commission also opted to remove any reference to age restrictions for the handling of chickens, but opted to keep a reference to health guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control in the chicken license application form. Commissioner Kevin Norby said it makes sense for the city to inform residents about the potential health risks. “But, I don’t know if we should dictate that,” he added.
The revised ordinance will also allow for butchering chickens within the city, but not outdoors. Residents will need to limit their butchering to a garage, the kitchen, or the basement.
At the same time, the commission opted to leave in place rules describing how coops should be built. “I don’t think it’s onerous at all,” said commissioner Joe Morin.
The commission also adopted broad language on enforcement, but opted not to assess criminal sanctions for those who fail to comply. Instead, the city will use fines or license revocation as needed to obtain reasonable compliance with the new ordinance.
In other business, the commission discussed a request by RV park developer Dave Rose to add three new sites to his Tower RV Resort, which is a planned unit development. Commissioners expressed some uncertainty about the process going forward and whether or not Rose would need a new conditional use permit or a new environmental review. Under the city’s Ordinance 80, however, an expansion of up to six units in an existing planned unit development can be approved as an allowable use.
The commission also discussed a request by a prospective business developer for more information on the city’s residential-transition zone district along the west end of Main Street. Commissioners noted that any new construction in the zone district must meet Residential-3 requirements, which would generally prohibit anything other than a low intensity home occupation business. “I would see the challenge is meeting the same general character and the lack of off-street parking,” said commission chair Michael Schultz.
In other business, the commission:
• Took no action pending more information on the process for vacating a platted but undeveloped portion of S. Third St. Nicole Carlson has indicated an interest in having the street vacated to allow for the planting of fruit trees.
• Took no immediate action on a variance request by Dan Eveleth to allow for construction of a residence on Cedar St. that is narrower than currently allowed in the ordinance.
• Postponed discussions on changes to Ordinance 82 regarding garages on vacant lots as well as a discussion on short-term rentals. The commission will schedule a special meeting limited to those items in the next few weeks.