Politics & Government

Board to Consider Chickens in La Grange? What Do You Think?

Members of the La Grange Village Board were skeptical, but intrigued, by an idea to allow residents to raise backyard chickens.

Should La Grange residents be able to keep and raise chickens in their backyards? It's a question that may come before the Village Board, though not right away.

La Grange resident Jeff Cogelja spoke to board members about the issue and said that he had received support from all the neighbors on his block that would like the board to consider it.

"Everyone was really excited about it," Cogelja said.

Find out what's happening in La Grangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It's okay in , Batavia and , so why not here?

The initial reaction from trustees was varied, but intrigued. Trustees Jim Palermo, Michael Horvath and Mark Kuchler said they had a lot of questions, but were interested in looking into the issue. Trustees Mark Langan and Jeff Nowak said they didn't feel like La Grange was that kind of town. Langan said he would be interested in learning more, while Nowak said he didn't feel it would be a good use of staff time to investigate it.

Find out what's happening in La Grangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Trustee Bill Holder was the only trustee with real experience.

"I used to have an egg route," Holder said. It was his first job.

Holder said he was against the idea as he thought it would probably bother his neighbors and cited possible smell and noise complaints.

On the other hand, Holder said his route involved over 40 chickens; most towns don't allow residents to keep more than six.

In my own experience (I have a friend who raised six chickens in Chicago) there was little smell, little noise and a whole lot of free, fresh eggs, which was nice!

Take a look at a great article on a Western Springs family who is .

So, give us your vote in our poll and tell us what you think about it in comments.


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