The Norco City Council last week unanimously voted to update its ordinance regarding poultry and fowl in an effort to better reflect the reality of living in the community.
“We have lots of birds here, we have chickens, we have folks who have guinea hens, and a number of those creatures like to run hither and yon around the properties in Norco, and it’s just been kind of a Norco tradition,” City Manager Lori Sassoon said. “However, our municipal code does not provide for that.”
According to current city code, domestic fowl are not allowed to wander anywhere in the city other than the owner’s property. The city’s definition of fowl includes, but is not limited to, chickens, ducks and geese.
City code further states that any fowl caught wandering will be impounded by an animal control officer with the owner responsible for paying an impoundment fee and other costs incurred by the city for the care of the animal in order to reclaim it, though Animal Control Services Superintendent Melvin Sparks said nobody has ever come to claim their impounded fowl.
“I have been in violation of this particular ordinance a couple of times as my peacocks like to fly across the street and roost on my neighbor’s roof from time to time overnight,” Councilmember Robin Grundmeyer said. “So, I do clip a wing, I try to be a responsible fowl owner, but they’re animals, and they have wings, so sometimes that can present a predicament.”
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In addition to her own fowl, Grundmeyer said that she recently took in a goose found running loose by a neighbor in an effort to locate its owners, but has since taken it in after finding none, and spoke of a little black hen that roams around the area of Fifth Street and Temescal Avenue that also seemingly has no owners.
“I personally don’t have a problem with these animals running around,” Mayor Kevin Bash said. “I also don’t like the word nuisance. I just don’t think they’re nuisances, but if we come to a time when somebody decides to vote in three council people that disagree with me, then I guess it’s the end of an era.”
Councilmember Katherine Aleman, who made the motion to remove the prohibition of free-range fowl and the penalty of impounding the animals, said she was disappointed that there was no public comment on the item.
“I would love to hear what the community has to say in terms of whether we should change our code to allow foul to run free,” she said.
With council seemingly in agreement about the changes they wanted to see made to the ordinance, Sassoon said she would bring back to council an updated ordinance for discussion at a future meeting.
A full recording of the meeting can be found here on the city’s YouTube channel.
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