KATIE ASHTON - Daily Herald | Posted: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 11:00 pm
Without ruffling any feathers, Elk Ridge City officials may be bringing some protection to pigeon owners and ending a yearlong controversy.
They hope by instituting a new city law with pigeon regulations, the city could help prevent problems, such as noise complaints, City Councilman Nelson Abbott said.
Last summer, tensions rose when a resident complained about his pigeon-owning neighbor, Jim Clark. Clark said while his neighbor's original complaint was over boundary issues, he began to voice his opinion about Clark's collection of less than 50 birds.
"There was nothing to complain about," Clark said, adding he only lets his birds out for exercise then promptly brings them back to avoid bothering his neighbors.
While looking at revamping a livestock and fowl ordinance, the City Council considered banning new pigeon breeders from moving into the community and limiting the number of birds allowed per home.
But the issue faded into the background as elections began last fall, Abbott said. As a pigeonowner himself, Abbott asked the council to revisit the issue and consider drafting an ordinance specific to pigeon owners.
"We don't want to have problems down the road," he said about the need to help set regulations for four households in the 510-home community.
The City Council held a public hearing and decided a pigeon law was needed, Abbott said. The council will discuss the issue within the next couple of meetings. However, he said he was unsure of a specific date.
"There's this misconception people have about pigeons," he said, refuting notions that breeding pigeons are dirty and a public nuisance.
If Abbott's birds were let out, "they would be caught by a cat in a matter of seconds," because they aren't wild pigeons, he said.
Addressing public concerns that pigeons, if let out, would roost on residential homes, Abbott said there is nothing to fear.
"When they think of pigeons they think of something wild," Clark said, who has been raising pigeons since he was a child.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B10.