Aurora rejects butcher shop after all

An anti-slaughterhouse five stopped a specialty butcher shop from gaining permission to slaughter and sell poultry across the street from Aurora Animal Control.

But no one, including the Aurora aldermen who rejected the butcher shop plan, seemed to realize what they had done.

The city council voted 6-5 Tuesday to grant the shop a conditional use permit to operate, with Mayor Tom Weisner breaking a 5-5 tie, and everyone assumed the ordinance was approved.

But, oops, not so fast.

Aurora officials said they learned Wednesday morning that city codes require seven votes to approve an ordinance. So instead of approving the butcher shop plans, the council actually had rejected them.

“In this case, really he (Mayor Weisner) didn’t have the option to break the tie,” said Alderman Lynda Elmore, who voted against the proposal.

All ordinances require seven votes for approval because that number creates a majority of the full city council including the mayor, Chief Management Officer Carie Anne Ergo said.

The proposal for Fermin’s Poultry to open shop at 629 S. River St. only will be discussed again if one of the five aldermen who voted for the measure requests it be reconsidered, according to city code.

Alderman Rick Lawrence, who voted for the conditional use permit, said he does not plan on asking for the topic to be discussed again. Even if the two aldermen absent Tuesday, Abby Schuler and Scheketa Hart-Burns, attend the next meeting, Lawrence said he does not think the butcher shop proposal would gain the seven votes necessary to pass.

Aldermen who opposed the shop say the thoughts and concerns of Aurora residents are represented by denying the conditional use permit.

“The majority of the people in Aurora, they don’t care for the location,” Alderman Stephanie Kifowit said. “I’m not going to change my vote.”