Detroit City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday allowing residents to keep chickens, ducks, and honeybees in their backyards. It marks the end of a 10-year effort from residents and leaders in Detroit’s food sovereignty movement.
Under the new law, residents may keep eight chickens and/or ducks for personal consumption and four honeybee hives. The vote passed 5-3, with Councilmembers Mary Waters, Angela Whitfield-Calloway and Scott Benson voting against the ordinance. The ordinance takes effect January 31, 2025.
Associate director of urban agriculture for the city of Detroit, Patrice Brown, said it is exciting and will have ripple effects on the health and wellness of Detroiters.
“The animal ordinance sets the tone for the first of many food security programs and urban green initiatives that will help propel Detroiters to a healthier city environmentally and physically,” she said.
Detroit will now be one of several Michigan cities that allow residents to keep farm animals, including Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Royal Oak, Ferndale, Troy, Warren and Grand Rapids. There are no concrete numbers on how many people currently keep animals in Detroit, but it was noted in the session that people are already keeping animals in the city. An estimated 1,000-3,000 households would take advantage of the ordinance in a 10-year period, according to a study by Michigan State University.
The ordinance was spearheaded by Detroit City Council President Pro Tem James Tate who has been working for more than a decade to get an animal-keeping ordinance passed. Kimani Jeffrey, a city planning commission staffer said at Tuesday’s session that the ordinance has steadily gained more support in recent years.
“I really believe the temperature has changed over the years, back 10 years ago there was a lot more opposition,” Jeffrey said, “But I believe as this has been in the news a lot, as we’ve gone around the city, done multiple, many different engagement activities…the education and the opportunities to weigh in and people seeing their feedback incorporated into the final product, I believe has dialed the temperature down,” he said.
Since the ordinance was first proposed, goats and sheep were removed from the ordinance. Most recently a provision requiring opaque fencing so that neighbors do not see the animals was incorporated into the ordinance in response to resident feedback.
There is an annual $50 renewal fee for license holders. Detroit Animal Care and Control would have inspection authority to ensure compliance. Animals that are not allowed under the ordinance include roosters, pigs, goats, sheep, cows, horses, turkeys, and rabbits.
Jeffrey noted that they only received one letter in opposition in the most recent round of public hearings, signed by members of the 48217 district. At a February City Planning Commission hearing on the proposed ordinance, 14 residents of that zip code attended in-person to express their opposition, noting concerns about rogue animals, unwanted smells and as urban residents, simply not wanting to live next to farm animals in a high-density neighborhood.
Longtime urban farmer Mark Covington who has spoken to residents at various informational meetings convened by Tate’s office said he understood the concerns of residents from the Southwest Detroit residents in 48217.
“I get the concerns, especially from 48217, they have dense neighborhoods, but the thing is the denser neighborhoods you aren’t going to be able to keep animals because of setback requirements,” he said. Animal shelters, like a chicken hut, are required to be at least 30 feet from neighbors and if there is no alley, at least five feet from a neighbor’s property line, according to the ordinance.
Covington, who has kept chickens at his farm since 2009, said he was “super happy” the ordinance passed.
Councilmember Benson said he was supportive of the initiative but heard from too many constituents who didn’t want it passed. Councilmember Waters wanted it to go on a ballot for a vote. The majority of ordinances passed in Detroit do not go on a ballot, but with enough signatures, residents can petition to get an issue on the ballot. Councilmember Whitfield-Calloway expressed general opposition to animal keeping in Detroit.
Comparatively, a letter with more than 500 signatures of support, including from groups like Oakland Ave. Urban Farm and the Eastside Community Network.. There are at least 1,400 residents interested in learning about keeping animals, according to Eastern Market-based urban farming nonprofit Keep Growing Detroit.
Executive director of Detroit’s Food Policy Council Winona Bynum said Tuesday was a significant step toward Detroit becoming a food sovereignty city where residents have control over how food is grown and food security; access to healthy, affordable foods. Approximately 65% of Detroiters experience food insecurity.
“This provides another avenue for Detroiters to feed their families and their neighbors,” Bynum said.
Malachi Barrett contributed to this report.