On Wednesday evening, roughly three dozen Redmond residents filled City Hall’s Bytes Cafe to discuss the city’s municipal code regarding the ownership of small animals such as chickens on lots smaller than a half-acre.

City of Redmond senior planner Kim Dietz said the meeting came as a result of previous conversations with residents and was an opportunity for city staff to learn more about people’s concerns and ideas when it comes to small-animal husbandry.

“We want to have a really rich dialogue tonight,” she said during her introduction speech.

Participants broke into small groups to delve deeper into the issue, addressing seven questions thought up by city planners. Question topics included whether small animals fit into Redmond’s community vision, which animals should the code include and how the change in the code could affect the community.

While the meeting was meant to address a variety of small animals, chicken talk dominated the discussions.

The majority of the crowd was pro-chicken, which surprised Kathy Dennis, unofficial leader of the backyard chicken crusade. She said people opposed to changing the law, which currently does not allow small-animal husbandry in lots smaller than a half-acre, have contacted her prior to the meeting and Dennis expected to see them at the meeting.

“I think it’s too bad,” she said about their absence.

Having the opposition present would have allowed for participants to directly address concerns and issues people have. But attendees did bring up concerns people would have including the noise, waste and smell chickens and other animals could produce. Many of the groups said these issues could be eliminated or at least mitigated by responsible ownership.

And when it comes to noise, many people compared chickens with dogs, saying barking dogs can be just as much of a nuisance as chickens, if not more.

In addition to addressing these concerns, participants discussed if and how chickens would fit into the community.

“It’s a real community builder,” Jane Wither said.

She and others said the opportunity to share eggs with neighbors can only bring people closer together and give people something else to talk about with each other. Wither added that owning chickens is a great way to teach children about where their food comes from as well. Another benefit people pointed out was a sustainable and renewable food source.

Another way participants said chickens and other animals could bring people together is through community-sharing programs or cooperatives for residents in apartments, condos, townhouses or other housing that would not allow animals. People could pay a fee to own and take care of animals kept in a shared space.

While people may go into chicken ownership with good intentions, Pam Yoder has concerns about having them and other animals in the city.

“It’s hard for me to see it in an urban setting,” she said.

Having grown up on a farm, Yoder said she has seen what happens to animals when they are not properly cared for and does not know if people are prepared to take their chickens to the butcher block if it stops producing eggs.

Attendees realize this and many suggested classes, pamphlets and other forms of education as well as licenses or permits before a person can own chickens. With a wealth of information online, Wither said it wouldn’t be too difficult for the City of Redmond to provide people with resources.

While chickens were the main focus of Wednesday’s conversations, other animals were brought up such as ducks, geese and goats. Most people were opposed to the other birds because of the noise they produce and their potential to fly away, but were open to the idea of goats.

Many participants didn’t see the need to define which animals should be included in the code, saying the wording should be kept in general terms, but senior planner Pete Sullivan said addressing these other animals now means the city won’t need to have the conversation later. He added that specifying which animals are and aren’t allowed will also help the city in code enforcement.

“There has to be some sort of line drawn,” he said.

The information at the meeting will be passed along to the planning commission, which will review the matter this fall. During its review, the planning commission will hold a public hearing Oct. 12, when residents will have another chance to voice their opinion on the issue. After that, the planning commission will give its recommendation to the city council, which will vote on the issue sometime in November or December.

Redmond residents who were unable to attend Wednesday’s meeting can answer the seven discussion questions online at http://tinyurl.com/3ub6jc4.