Oceanport Council Members Split On Chicken Vote, Feathers Ruffled

OCEANPORT – Should residents be allowed to keep chickens on their backyards?

That depends on who you ask.

The Oceanport Borough Council is split 3-3 on whether introduce an ordinance that would allow residents to keep chicken on properties with at least 351 accessible square feet per hen, according to app.com.

Some residents have even formed a Facebook group called Oceanport Backyard Chicken Supporters to change the current ordinance that restricts the raising of poultry in backyards.

But not everyone wants the egg-laying birds in backyards..

Just ask Rosanne Leston.

"They're going to make noise," she said. "They're going to smell. I don't want to see them."
said

Group members want the chickens for a sustainable, healthier lifestyle, according to their Facebook page.The group has 69 members.

The six-member Borough Council is divided on the issue. It split 3-3 on a vote Thursday to introduce an ordinance that would allow for the keeping of poultry or fowl on properties with a minimum lot size of 351 accessible square feet per hen, according to the report.

Mayor John "Jay" Coffey broke the tie by voting yes. He wants the public to have a full hearing to decide the issue.

The new ordinance would allow residents to keep a maximum of six hens on their properties. All male poultry like roosters and cockerels would be prohibited.

Residents would have to get a $10 permit license from the Borough Clerk with accompanied proof of a poultry education class. The fee will provide each hen a borough mandated identification band, that must be worn by the hens at all times according to the proposed ordinance change.

Image: Oceanport Backyard Chickens Supporters