Don't count your chickens before ... the members of the State College Borough cast their votes.
Though it will not be voted on until at least Oct. 20, the State College Borough Council unveiled a proposed zoning ordinance Monday that would allow borough residents in single-family homes to keep up to four hens in backyard coops if various zoning and health requirements are met.
Council Member Donald Hahn said he was worried about the divisions the chicken debate had created in the community.
"Sometimes it's not necessarily about what's right," he said. "It's about what's right at the right time."
The ordinance would likely prove harmless in time, Council Member James Rosenberger said.
"[Chickens] have gotten a bum rap over the years," he said. "I think the idea of chickens may be much worse than the reality of it."
The council will discuss the ordinance and schedule a public hearing at its Oct. 20 regular meeting. The proposed measure prompted heated debate among borough residents attending the council's work session.
Linda Hendrickson cited the dangers of avian flu as a reason for barring chickens from neighborhoods.
"That's really how the people in China ... contracted it," she said. "We should be proactive instead of just leaving it up to chance."
Lisa Baumgartner said the Chinese kept chickens in their homes whereas State College residents would relegate the birds to backyard coops at least 50 feet away from neighboring homes.
"With the sanitary requirements built into the ordinance, I think it's very insignificant, the risk," she said.
The anti-chicken argument turned personal as Hendrickson pointed to the home upkeep of one petitioner.
"I didn't even want to bring this up because I want to be a good neighbor, but unfortunately, the person who is asking to have this ordinance changed is a rental," she said. "If it's always rundown and it looks terrible, how do we know what they're going to do with the chickens?"
One chicken owner, Diana Malcom, stood to defend the petitioner, who no speaker would name.
"Her home is gorgeous, her yard is beautifully landscaped," Malcom said. "That should not be part of the conversation."
