Urban Chickens Debate Returns to St. Cloud City Council With New Members at the Table

(KNSI) – A past topic that was once thought to have gone away to roost has flocked back to the St. Cloud City Council.

During Monday’s meeting, Councilmember Scott Brodeen will ask the governing body to again discuss allowing urban chickens in city limits. The issue was most recently discussed in the summer and fall of 2024 after a plan was approved and forwarded to the city council, only to be rejected in a 5-1 vote. However, the council now features several new members who weren’t part of that discussion. Since that vote, Brodeen, Tami Calhoun, Mark Johnson, and Hudda Ibrahim have joined the board, and then-councilmember Jake Anderson has become mayor.

Under the prior proposal, a property owner could have kept up to four hens on a single-family lot at least 6,000 square feet in size, and they would need to get permission from their neighbors. Citing reasons for the 2024 rejection, Council President Jeff Goerger told KNSI News at the time that the biggest concern was over public health as it concerns diseases, sanitation, and noise. Other council members felt the city has enough trouble enforcing the rules already on the books and thought the new change would be too burdensome for the city to regulate.

The policy was first reviewed by the council in 2014, but was voted down. It was again introduced in 2023, but was not forwarded to the council at that time. The city council meeting gets underway at 6:00 p.m. on Monday.

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