Windham – Earlier this year, on March 24, 2020, Windham Village Council passed Ordinance O-2020-3, amending section 505.15. The ordinance prohibits farm animals, exotic animals, reptiles, or other pets, except dogs, cats, household birds, other creatures indigenous to the area or other creatures exhibited as part of a duly recognized circus show. No person shall keep or harbor within the village, horses, mules, cattle, swine, sheep, goats, rabbits, geese, ducks, turkeys or other fowl, exotic animals, reptiles or other creatures which are not indigenous to the area, unless are kept or harbored on a minimum of five acres. The ordinance change would permit chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and other fowl on a minimum of .9 acres or more of land within the village.
A group of concerned citizens question how how this will better the community, today or in the future. The citizens organized a petition drive to get a referendum filed within the 30 days of the ordinance passage. Most in the group, stated that the change from 5 acres to .9 acres made zero sense. One acre maybe, but .9? According to one member, the mayor admitted the acreage was put at .9 to cater to a handful of people. After talking to Mayor Scott Garrett, he stated that they were trying to help out a few people who made the request. They technically were not catering to anyone. He said, “Government should be there to help out the residents and council and I thought it was a reasonable request.” Therefore, after the three required reads, they passed the ordinance. Yes, the acreage seems a little askew but the one resident needed it that low to be in compliance of the ordinance.
The group looking to file a referendum succeeded by obtaining 65 signatures, even though they only needed 47 to file the referendum. The 47 signatures needed is equivalent to 10% of those who voted in the primary election. The referendum negates the passage of the Ordinance O-2020-3, leaving council two choices. They will either need to rescind the ordinance or wait on a public vote on the matter in the November election. Council has decided to let the voters choose. So, until the voters vote in November, there should be no chickens or ducks, etc. on any village property under five acres. This also includes erecting chicken coops. Any that have been built will need to be torn down. The referendum will be on the November ballot, giving residents a say in the matter.
The group went out to get signatures. I asked how was that accomplished in the middle of a pandemic? They had 30 days from the ordinance’s passage to file the referendum. One member told me, she made appointments. She then took a copy of the ordinance with her, along with brand new pens, (each signer was given a new pen to sign with and keep) sanitizer and wipes in hand, when visiting anyone who made an appointment to sign the petitions. She wore gloves and a mask, to stay within the governor’s mandates. A second member told me he did the same. They both stated that they exercised social distancing as ordered by the Ohio governor.
I talked with Mayor Scott Garrett and this is what he said was his take on the situation. First, he said he has no “skin” in this game, it really didn’t matter to him, one way or another. He didn’t feel like it would decrease property values, or change the character of the village. He also said, he knew one person had chickens on less than 5 acres for years, and no one has complained about them, so, they let them be. Now, there has been a complaint against raising poultry in the village by a party that says it would change the dynamics of the bedroom community, cause property values to decrease, not to mention the odor that comes from raising poultry in the village. Therefore, the referendum is forcing council’s hand to do something. This was the start of the amended farm animal ordinance. Council discussed whether they would just rescind the ordinance, but decided to let the community have a say on the matter. Garrett said, they’d just let it go through the process and see what the voters want, so, until the matter is resolved, anyone that lives on less than five acres can’t have poultry in the village.
