2011 Candidate Update

We’ve spoken with several more candidates, but we are still awaiting responses from a few more. Here’s what we’ve found out so far.

Mayoral: Currently held by Harold Weinbrecht (still opposed to chickens). His opponent is Michelle Muir. Mike and I met with her, and she is supportive of legalizing chickens.

District B: Currently Don Frantz, who was opposed, but he now SUPPORTS legalizing hens in residential areas! I spoke with him and he is very much behind this now! Amazing. He wants a rule regarding appearance, nothing super strict but ensuring people can’t use old washing machines as coops. Opponent is Jeffrey Foxx also supports them, but he doesn’t seem to really be running much of a campaign.

District D: Currently Gale Adcock, who was supportive of legalizing chickens. Opponent is Don Hyatt (still waiting for a reply)

At Large: Zeke Bridges is very supportive also! His main caveat is he wants to make sure HOAs can ban them, which I’m pretty sure was always the case anyways, but otherwise he’s on board. Lori Bush is a maybe—there is an exchange on her facebook wall here that you can read. She supports hiving an issue advisory group or staff ‘research further’ because there are still ‘unanswered questions’.

The Candidate Town forum on September 14th is still accepting questions until September 7th. The website is here http://ncvotered.com/cary/

Also, someone pointed out to me that we only need FOUR supportive people on council to legalize hens.

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A Brief Status Update

It has been several years since my wife and I first approached the council with what we thought was a simple request. Fast forward to today and a few of the council members have shown that no facts or amount of public feedback in support of legalizing chickens will change their minds. I’ve recently heard that the town is still frequently asked about about the issue and those inquiries may still outpace feedback on the budget.

The next step for legalizing chickens appears to be using the 2011 election to chance the composition of the council. The following council members have blocked our efforts from moving this forward.

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Council Presentation Resources

Thursday at 6:30pm, Alissa will make a presentation to the Cary Town Council in the hopes of forming an Issue Advisory Group (IAG) that will work with the town to provide recommendations to council at a later date. Below are links to the presentation and information packets given to each member of council.

• cary_chickens_CIRC_final2.ppt
• Information packet given to Cary Council members
• Official cost estimate computed by Town of Cary staff
• Issue Advisory Group Budget Question

Related Information:

• Staff Report – Chicken Advisory Group
• Policy Statement 157

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Chicken campaign clucks on in Cary

Jordan Cooke, Staff Writer for Cary News, has published a story about chickens. He interviewed representatives from the town, CaryChickens and an NCSU poultry specialist.

A Cary woman isn’t giving up on drawn-out efforts to grow something illegal in her backyard: chickens.

“It’s about reducing our environmental impact,” said Alissa Manfre, co-founder of grass roots group Cary Chickens, who says she wants to own chickens for their ability to control pests and provide fertilizer for their vegetable garden.

Full story

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Issue Advisory Group Presentation

The presentation for our request to form an Issue Advisory Group is this Thursday, August 13th, at the Town Council meeting which starts at 6:30 pm in the Council Chambers at 316 N. Academy Street. We are early on the agenda (http://www.townofcary.org/agenda/agenda.htm). The presentation will hopefully start around 6:45. The staff, CIRC, and Cary chickens presentations should last 20-25 minutes, and then Town Council will debate and vote on whether or not we may form a Town-Sanctioned Issue Advisory Group.

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CaryChickens To Give Presentation To Council

Alissa will be giving a 15 minute presentation to council during the council meeting on Thursday, August 13, 2009. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. and is located in the council chambers, 316 N. Academy St., Cary. After the presentation, the council will have a vote on whether to let CaryChickens form a Issue Advisory Group.

We held a presentation review session which yielded a lot of good ideas and progress. Anyone who has the opportunity to see this presentation should have a clear understanding that we are law abiding citizens that want to improve the town we call home.

Bring your family and show your support. Let them know that this is what the community wants. Wear your CaryChickens shirts. If would like a CaryChickens shirt, they are available for $6. You can contact me through the website for more details.

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Urban Chickens in the news

WRAL has posted a story about keeping chickens in Raleigh.

Urban chicken keeping is a growing trend across the Triangle. Raleigh residents are allowed to have laying hens in backyards, Durham residents need a permit for household hens and those living in Chapel Hill can have up to 10 hens. However, chicken keeping is still illegal in Cary.

Read the Full Story, In ‘urban chickens,’ some see golden opportunity.

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ABC Nightline: Co-ops Home to Urban Coops

Last night on ABC’s Nigtline, there was a story about keeping chickens in NYC. Watch the video

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CIRC Approves Application

The CIRC members voted unanimously to approve our application to form an Issue Advisory Group (IAG) and forward the request to a future council meeting. In either July or August, we will be allowed to give a presentation to encourage the council to vote to approve CaryChickens as an IAG.

Now is the time when we need support the most. Get your friends and neighbors to sign the petition and join our email discussion list.

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