Batavia puts chickens on the back burner for the time being

Proponents and opponents of the idea of keeping chickens in Batavia will have to wait a few months to see the issue resolved.

City Administrator Bill McGrath Tuesday recommended that the city council put off further discussion or voting until after the new year starts.

But McGrath did have time to work on his comedy.

"It's not high on the pecking order" of tasks city workers and aldermen have "on their platter" right now, he said. Those tasks include developing the 2011 budget (the fiscal year starts in January), reviewing a downtown streetscape plan, and discussing increased enforcement of maintenance codes for rental properties now that the city has the home-rule power to do so.

"It (the chickens) just isn't that important, and it really has upset some people," McGrath said. The city has collected about three dozen comments on the proposal through a special e-mail address, chickens@cityofbatavia.net.

A group of residents presented a proposal in August to let Batavians keep up to eight hens -- no roosters -- in their backyards, provided their coops and runs were at least 20 feet away from any neighboring buildings. No slaughtering would be allowed. McGrath said he has discussed the comments with the leaders of the group and the delay in action.