Stuart delays final vote on backyard chickens until September meeting

The Stuart City Commission unanimously pushed the final backyard-chicken vote to Sept. 14. Supporters who want hens, and neighbors wary of them, now have until that September meeting to keep pressing the issue while the city’s current prohibition stays in place.

At its June 22 meeting, the commission chose delay over a permanent vote after Commissioner Campbell Rich said the city should wait until the full commission is seated. A 2-2 split would kill the measure outright.

The proposal itself has already moved through several steps. The Stuart City Commission advanced it on a 3-1 vote in June after the Stuart Community Redevelopment Board recommended approval on a 5-2 vote May 5, and the Stuart Local Planning Agency also considered it May 14. The ordinance is intended to support sustainable living and locally sourced food, but commissioners kept raising concerns about water quality and mice.

Under the draft rules, some residents in certain residential areas, including single-family homes and duplexes in East Stuart, could keep up to four hens. The ordinance would cap coop height at 7 feet, limit a fence or hedge to 5 feet and charge a $10 annual fee. It would allow hens only, not roosters. Some Stuart residents already keep chickens despite the citywide ban.

Stuart approved backyard chickens in June 2017 on a 3-2 vote, with then-Mayor Troy McDonald and Vice Mayor Kelli Glass Leighton opposed, but the decision was reversed two weeks later after Commissioner Douglas Krauskopf changed his vote.