OGDEN — The Ogden City Council denied a petition by an Ogden resident who wants to keep his chickens legally in the city.

Currently, chickens are not permitted anywhere in Ogden, except a handful of properties where chickens have been grandfathered in when ordinances changed in the mid-1980s.

Despite the council's decision to deny Troy Campos' petition, council members also voted to engage in further discussions about how to allow residents to keep chickens as a food source.

The Ogden Planning Commission had recommended the council vote against Campos' petition, citing concerns about cleanliness, said Greg Montgomery, Ogden's planning director.

But Campos and fellow chicken owners Mathew and Teresa Buller are optimistic the council will come up with an ordinance that permits chickens.

Both families own illegal chickens, and the Bullers are facing a city fine of more than $300 because a neighbor has complained about the chickens they own.

But the Bullers brought the council a petition in favor of chickens signed by 25 residents.

Both families have had chickens since the spring and say chickens, if properly cared for, shouldn't cause problems in a neighborhood.

They may have some advocates on the City Council.

Council Chairwoman Amy Wicks said she supports an ordinance that would prohibit roosters but would allow a certain number of chickens depending on a home's lot size, a permitting process and a signed letter of approval from landlords.

"I think we can come up with something that's not going to place an undue burden on neighbors," Wicks said.

Councilman Brandon Stephenson agreed, and Councilwoman Caitlin Gochnour said she would like to see how Salt Lake City's future chicken ordinance turns out.

Councilman Doug Stephens said he's concerned about enforcement and the workload it would place on an already overburdened animal services department.

Bob Geier, Ogden's animal services director, said his department responds to between 10 and 15 chicken complaints a month. That's just part of the 6,000 animal complaints his two officers respond to each year.

Ogden's shelter isn't set up to hold poultry, Geier said, and when 102 chickens were seized in a cockfighting bust, his employees put chickens in every cat carrier they could until the birds were destroyed.

"My animal control officers are overwhelmed every day," he said. "Don't give us an unfunded mandate."

Wicks suggested that a permitting process could generate some fees to help the animal services department, and the council agreed to discuss the issue at a later date.

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