By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
As of now, proponents of allowing chickens within Great Bend city limits are not going away quietly. At the Great Bend City Council meeting June 5, the governing body voted 4-3 to clearly state there is a ban on harboring chickens within city limits. Two weeks later, citizen Kathryn Schaffner reappeared at the next council meeting to speak during the open comments section of the agenda. Schaffner expressed the importance of having personal liberty where she lives.
"Backyard hens build community," said Schaffner. "In the time that I had my flock, my neighbors benefitted from extra eggs and education for their children. My flock helped knit my community together. Now, people that still have their hens at least until someone's outs them, are afraid to share or have friends in their yard because they're afraid to lose their pets and sustainable protein sources. Community is not held together by fear but torn apart."
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Schaffner said over the next several meetings, herself and other backyard chicken proponents intend to respond to misconceptions of hens and how they are no harm to the city. Schaffner requested a "reverse of course" and for the council to protect chicken owners in the city.
"When much of the city's revenue comes from property taxes, it just doesn't make sense to discourage growth with arbitrary decisions such as the ban," said Schaffner. "Responsible people aren't moving because there are too few abatements. They're moving because they don't feel represented or protected."
Great Bend’s animal control services was in favor of the continued ban and arguments against allowing chickens cited tending to chicken violations, the city’s struggle to enforce current abatements and the police department staff being utilized for chicken-related violations.