At its June 5 meeting, a split Great Bend City Council approved an ordinance banning the harboring of chickens within the city limits.

Kathryn Schaffner, a staunch advocate for backyard chickens, came before the council Monday night to read a statement pleading with the council to reverse its decision, and providing documentation she said backed her appeal. She also said she and fellow supporters would attend meetings in the coming weeks to make their case.

“We are all interested in how the city is governed and how that shapes our culture and our future,” she said. “And that’s part of the reason I’m back here tonight. I’m concerned about the culture we’re creating with decisions like the chicken ban.” 

At the June 5 meeting, many council members said that they had more phone calls against chickens than for. There was also concern about manpower in enforcing the regulations of the ordinance if chickens passed.

However, it passed on a 4-3 vote with some council members sympathetic to those wanting to keep chickens on their properties.

It was at the May 15 meeting that Schaffner and others addressed the council about the ordinance. Other citizens voiced their opinion supporting chickens in city limits. She presented the council with a petition in favor of chickens, carrying the signatures of 95 Great Bend residents.

“I like living in our very red city and our very red county and our moderately red state and I’m very pro personal liberty,” she said Monday night. “According to the Constitution of the U.S., I’m guaranteed personal liberty which as defined by Cornell University, it means freedom from arbitrary and unreasonable restraint upon an individual; in layman’s terms, no harm, no foul – get it.”

It was a play on words with the term fowl referring to chickens.

“The decision last week was both arbitrary and an unreasonable restraint upon my person, my family and the many community members that own backyard chickens,” she said. “My friends and I plan to demonstrate to you over the next several meetings that while there are many misconceptions about backyard hens, they are myths and therefore provide no harm to our neighbors or our city, but in are in fact helpful.”

Indeed, there are many benefits, she said.

“As far as our neighbors go, backyard hens build community and the time that I had my flock, my neighbors has benefited from extra eggs and education for their children,” she said. “My flock helped knit my community together. But now people who still have their hens, at least until someone outs them, are afraid to share or have friends in their yards because they are afraid to lose their pets and sustainable protein sources.

“Community is not held together by fear but torn apart,” she said. “At the last meeting, I and hundreds of other Great Bend citizens were told that the life they desire to lead is not welcome in our city.”

And, she noted, having chickens in a city is not uncommon.

“I found that statement unreasonable in the face of evidence of many Kansas cities widely varying in size, having protected the right of municipal flocks for years, even New York City and LA allow flocks, and you can’t get much more metropolitan than that.

“Since COVID, many people are turning from big blue cities and big blue states to red rural towns,” she said. “And since COVID, there’s an increasing interest in urban agriculture, and de-urbanization is occurring. People moving from big cities are looking for more freedoms, not fewer.”

The ban sends a bad message, she said.

“So what did our decision last week tell these interstate migrants?” she said. “According to Forbes, 10 out of 10 of the fastest growing cities are allowing backyard hens and only three of the 10 sickest markets do.

“But that’s just for potential residents. More importantly, what did the decision tell hundreds of your citizens?” she said. “I know our population is declining. I have repetitively heard heavy handedness and lack of voice cited as reasons citizens have moved out into the country.”

Prohibiting the birds is detrimental to the city, she said.

“When much of the city’s revenue comes from property taxes, it just doesn’t make sense to discourage growth with arbitrary decisions such as the ban. Responsible people aren’t moving because there are too few abatements They’re moving because they don’t feel represented or protected.”

And, they are not that big of a hassle, Schaffner said.

“As to the valid concern of more work for animal control, I made many calls confirming backyard hens are not a burden in the Kansas citys whose ordinances I’ve shared with you, and that are, according to the professional opinions of Salina and Andover animal control officers, our animal control would actually have reduced workload if the ban was reversed.” 

She provided a breakdown of the chicken complaints compared to dog complaints and each town

“And if you do want to like our ACOs burden, I do highly suggest a reverse of course, and that you protect the responsible chicken owners of our town. I truly believe that such a move would be evidence of growth is seeking culture that respects citizens and encourages community and not fear.

“And I believe that’s a future and culture that will grow the strong community we leaders want to see,” she said.

Also addressing the council was chicken supporter Sarah Williams. 

“Simply put, I’m an active member of this community. I’ve raised eight kids here in town. I’m highly involved, a master gardener and I would like to say that I fully support and want to have hens in my yard as well. And I wish I had the freedom to do that,” Williams said. 

“I think it’s a disservice to us that you are tying our hands and I just wish I had the freedom to have hens in my yard to feed my family and to add to the my yard,” she said.

These remarks were made during the public comment portion of the meeting when residents could speak on items not included on the evening’s agenda. There were no comments by governing body members and no action was taken.