Roosters in Cook County can breathe a sigh of relief. But horses might want to get a better lobbyist.
After ruffling feathers with a proposed ban on roosters in unincorporated parts of the county, the County Board’s Zoning and Building Committee walked back that proposal entirely at a Wednesday meeting where they passed a zoning amendment.
The update drops the proposed prohibition of roosters, doesn’t limit the number of fowl residents can have on their property and clarifies the rules for owning a horse . Those rules include allowing only one horse per acre.
“We revised it to take away the restriction on roosters,” said Commissioner Peter Silvestri, R-Elmwood Park, who is the chair of the zoning committee. “There were only three complaints [about roosters] last year … Why regulate something that’s not a problem?”
The original amendment, which came up in May, proposed outlawing the crowing birds and reducing the number of fowl that residents in unincorporated areas can have on their land — dropping the number from 12 to five if the resident’s plot of land is smaller than an acre in size.
The matter was deferred a day later after some urban farmers complained about the move to ban roosters. Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin, D-Evanston, said at the time environmental groups sent emails to commissioners urging them to rethink the ban.
The amendment will come before the full County Board of Commissioners for a vote Thursday.
