In ultra environmentally-sensitive Chapel Hill, the battle cry is locally grown, locally grown, locally grown. But these days, the town’s central planners are finding their regulations and goals are competing with one another. Who would have thought it would take a debate over chickens to illustrate the folly more clearly, and pit the Planning Board Chairman and mom-and-pop chicken producers against the Town Council over fees, sizes, and locations of chicken coops.
From the News & Observer (emphasis is mine):
George Cianciolo, chairman of the Planning Board, asked the council to consider lowering or eliminating the fee. He said it diminishes the town’s goal of promoting the cheap production of sustainable food.
Jim Huegerich, a resident who said he has kept chickens for more than 30 years, said the permit fee would keep him from owning chickens. “It would certainly put me out of business,” he said.
So what’s a central planner to do when confronted with competing rules and goals? Add another layer of bureaucratic process, of course.
Council member Matt Czajkowsky asked town staff to see whether measuring how many residents have chickens would be feasible.
I’d love to tag along as a town staffer knocks on doors and peers into yards looking for chickens.
