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RUFFLING FEATHERS City’s poultry policy being challenged by those who want more control over their food
Few show up as city passes tax bump BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
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Cornelia Naylor/TIMES
Sardis homeschooler and backyard chicken advocate Gina Carew poses with her 11-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter by the family’s backyard greenhouse and fruit trees.
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ersistent pecking at a City of Chilliwack bylaw banning urban backyard chickens has gotten some attention at city hall recently, but the dual threats of disease and neighbour complaints make changes to the bylaw a tough sell with municipal officials. Last month, local resident Nicholette Devenney made a presentation to the city’s agricultural committee advocating for the backyard fowl, and the committee has directed staff to look into the matter.
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“Times are really changing and people are getting more concerned about what’s in their food and where it comes from and how the animals are treated.” Gina Carew A report with possible recommendations should be ready for council within a few months, according to one staffer. But Devenney is no lone voice in the wilderness. Chilliwack’s social media pages, including the Life in the ‘Wack Facebook page, have seen numer-
ous debates on the issue (often with Mayor Sharon Gaetz weighing in), and there is now also an online petition urging Chilliwack city council to allow backyard chickens in the city. It was started by health-conscious, Sardis homeschooling mom, Gina Carew, whose family
moved to Chilliwack from Surrey five years ago. “We want to teach our children how to be self-sustaining and how to be able to fend for themselves and that their chicken doesn’t come from the grocery store shelf,” Carew told the Times. “We really, really want them to know where things come from and how things are done and how things are supposed to be done.” Carew and her family already grow as much of their own organic produce as they can in their Sardis yard, and having a handful of chickens See CHICKENS, Page 14
See CITY, Page 7
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BY CORNELIA NAYLOR cnaylor@chilliwacktimes.com
ity council passed its 2014 financial plan bylaw with little fanfare and little public input after Tuesday’s public hearing in council chambers. The plan will see homeowners hit with a 2.44 per cent tax increase in addition to a similar increase to water and sewer rates. As has become a bit of a tradition, city staff point out Chilliwack’s property tax rate is second lowest in the Lower Mainland, far below the average, and even farther below when garbage, water and sewer are taken into account. As has also become an annual tradition, few re s i d e nt s s h ow up save for local resident Gary Raddysh, who EB IRST annually pans government taxa- First reported on tion at every level chilliwacktimes.com a n d re q u e s t s a zero per cent increase, and Bryden Nelmes, who generally approves of what city hall does suggesting specific areas of improvement. Mayor Sharon Gaetz thanked Nelmes for his annual tradition of turning out to comment on the city’s finanical plan, while Nelmes called it a shame that people discuss city finances in letters to the editor and on social media, but few show up in council chambers. “That really saddens me,” he said. Raddysh pointed to a recent Times article, that listed annual tax increases since 2004, numbers that showed the 2.44 per cent, or $38 on a representative home, is the lowest increase in more than a decade. Raddysh pointed out, however, that if
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