Aurora to regulate housing of pigeons

No, Aurora aldermen haven't all flown the coop. But they will soon be regulating it.

Aldermen at the city's committee of the whole OK'd an ordinance specifically related to carrier, racing, hobby and show pigeons.

City attorney Alayne Weingartz said up until recently, state law prevented local municipalities from regulating the pigeons. But a recent amendment now allows the city to regulate but not prohibit the orderly keeping of the birds.

"We've had some complaints come before the government operations committee with regard to the keeping of these birds," Weingartz said. "So what we've done is provide some basic requirements for the location of these birds, which is called a pigeon loft, that they will be kept in compliance with the building code, property maintenance code and that they be kept in a clean and orderly condition at all times."

There is a $250 fine for the first violation and a second violation within 30 days increases to $500; each day of the violation is a separate occurrence.

"To our knowledge there are not a lot (of captive pigeons in the city)," she said. "But as you might be able to imagine, if you have a number of them next to your residence, they can become a nuisance."