Backyard Chickens Now Legal in Deerfield and Grayslake. Moral Courage Lacking in Arlington Heights

In an act of being attentive, being intelligent, being reasonable, and being responsible the Village Board of younger (and more mature) sister Deerfield this past February voted 6-1 to allow residents to keep up to four hens on single-family property instituting as part of its permanent backyard chicken program an annual inspection process that would be offset by a $15 license fee.

Congratulations are also in order for the Village Board of Grayslake who just this month unanimously approved allowing the backyard chickens.

Sheryl DeVore, Special to the Tribune, in a July 6 Trib Local on-line article states:

Mayor Rhett Taylor said he’s favored allowing backyard chickens in Grayslake ever since a young boy approached him in August 2012 about the issue.

“I told him to draw up an ordinance and I’d send it to the zoning board of appeals,” Taylor said.

Sue Sturm [mother of Grayslake chicken proponent and 4H Club member Natalie, 15,] said at first the zoning board was against it. She, too, didn’t like the idea when Natalie asked if they could have chickens and told her the village wouldn’t allow it.

But Natalie changed her mother’s mind and together they prepared a power point presentation for the Grayslake zoning board last summer.

“They had a lot of misconceptions,” Sue Sturm said of board members. “But by the time we went to the next meeting they were all for it.”

Taylor said the board was mainly concerned about noise, but police said a barking dog was more of a problem. Taylor said allowing only hens, because roosters are noisier, took care of the issue.

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Is Arlington Heights more attentive, more intelligent, more reasonable, and more responsible in banning the backyard chickens than Deerfield, Grayslake and the host of our other sister communities in permitting them? Or is it just easier for our current mayor and board of trustees to cling to the outdated mantra  “consistency in government is very important”? Where is the moral courage to admit past mistakes and correct them?  

Perhaps a helping hand is needed …

The Virgin Coop: a broken trilogy

 Matt Scallon: Local Author

Now Available at The Arlington Heights Memorial Library and Amazon.com (paperback and Kindle formats)

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