NEWS RELEASE
CITY OF ORILLIA
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Orillia’s backyard chicken/hen coop pilot project will end on June 5, 2019. The City of Orillia wants to hear your feedback on the pilot project and potential next steps through a short survey available here.
In May 2017, following much public interest and to foster local food production, Council approved awarding of up to 12 hen coop licenses permitting backyard chickens in Orillia on a two-year trial basis, with certain restrictions including flock size and property area.
The purpose of the two-year pilot project was to gather additional data so that Council could decide whether to permit backyard hens on a permanent basis.
“As the City of Orillia backyard hen pilot project winds down, we want to gather feedback from the public regarding the success of the pilot and how you would like the City to proceed,” said Mayor Steve Clarke. “This initiative was championed by residents eager to bring backyard hens to Orillia. We now want to connect back with the community to see if that desire remains.”
During the pilot project, there have been three licensed backyard coops housing hens in the city. Throughout the pilot, staff conducted both scheduled and random inspections on the existing coops and did not note any major issues or complaints.
Before reporting back to Council Committee regarding next steps, the City is looking for feedback from the general public, but in particular those residents who expressed interest in having backyard hens, but who did not participate in the pilot project, and from residents who have active hen coops in the city.
The online survey is available here.
You can also forward your comments by email to Ali Chapple, Intermediate Planner, at [email protected], or to Susan Votour, Planning Coordinator, at [email protected], or by mail addressed to “Backyard Hens” care of City Centre, 50 Andrew St. S., Suite 300, Orillia, Ontario L3V 7T5. Deadline for feedback is March 18, 2019 at 4:30 p.m.
Currently, the number of hens in a coop is limited to four hens over the age of four months. Roosters are prohibited and a property must be at least 500 sq. m. (5,382 sq. ft.) in size to accommodate a hen coop.
There are also restrictions regarding the location of the hen coop on a property and a licensing fee of $100 is required. Staff are looking for feedback regarding the current regulations (a full copy of which can be found here)
The City of Orillia looks forward to receiving your feedback.
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