More Soldotna residents can now keep chickens on their property. That’s after Soldotna City Council members voted last week removed restrictions on the lot size required to keep hens. The move comes about five months after city residents petitioned the council for the changes.
Previously, chickens could only be kept on property larger than one-and-a-half acres. Now, the same amount of chickens can be kept on all residential property with compliant enclosures and setbacks. Coops must be at least 10 feet from property lines and at least 25 feet away from neighboring houses. Coops must also be in a property’s side or back yards.
Jordan Chilson, one of the ordinance sponsors, says the previous code precludes “the vast majority” of city residents from owning chickens. While writing the changes, Chilson says he and co-sponsor Dan Nelson consulted with community members, city staff and other municipalities.
“Some of the reasons that we had this requested by the community included sustainability for food, environmental education,” he said. “I know from my own perspective, I had been looking forward to eventually getting a couple hens to do the whole educational process with my own child as he gets older.”
Four members of the public testified on the ordinance during last week’s meeting. All were in favor.
Natalie King lives near Redoubt Elementary School and says she was surprised to learn her property made her ineligible to have chickens. Like Chilson, she wants to raise chickens with her kids.
“They would have so much fun learning how to take care of chickens, getting that extra responsibility,” she said. “So we're excited for the whole process.”
Leticia Holly also favors the changes. But she wants Soldotna to be more proactive when it comes to deterring predators.
“Instead of restricting our pet options, I urge the city to focus on community-wide predator safe practices,” she said. “These include addressing the higher attractants on the list, such as barbecue grills, garbage cans and fish waste, and also pet food that's unsecured.”
Council member Linda Farnsworth-Hutchings shares those concerns, and has a few of her own. She grew up raising chickens and worries about the smell in Soldotna’s compact neighborhoods. And she questioned how the changes will be enforced.
“What's going to happen when you have six houses in a row and everybody wants their own chicken coop?” she said. “I'm just totally, totally opposed to it. And the other thing is, who's going to enforce, who's going to police it? Is that what our police department is going to be doing is counting chickens?”
Council members voted 5-1 in favor. Farnsworth-Hutchings was the lone vote opposed. The ordinance is effective immediately.
With the approval, Soldotna joins Kenai in liberalizing its rules regarding chickens. In 2023, Kenai expanded the number of city lots chickens could be kept in. That debate drew more than 150 pages of public comment and hours of council debate.
