SPOKANE VALLEY -- Chickens could one day be more welcome in Spokane Valley.
A group of people are pushing for the city to allow more neighborhood homeowners to raise chickens. They say the current city code is too strict and disqualifies too many properties.
Currently, in order to own chickens in Spokane Valley, the property must be a little smaller than one acre, or 40,000 square feet. And there can only be one chicken per 3,000 square feet.
Craig Goodwin hopes to change that. In order to drum up support, he has a website, www.yearofplenty.org, and a Facebook page.
With enough public support and the $1,800 application fee, Goodwin and his supporters say they can start the process to get the code changed.
But it won't be a slam dunk. The City of Spokane Valley says they get several complaints a year about chickens.
"I think a lot of people are worried [that it] is going to smell like farm, be noisy," says Goodwin. "It really isn't. With 3 or 4 chickens, most of the time you'll never even know."
Tuesday, the Spokane Valley City Council reviewed a letter one neighbor stating the benefits of owning chickens -- they provide eggs daily and eat bugs and weeds.
The council forwarded the issue to the City Planning Commission for review.
"Self sufficiency. It's education for our children so they know where our food comes from," says Goodwin.
