Maddie sent out an email yesterday saying that Pablo's cousin passed
away after being in a car accident, please keep his family in your
thoughts and send lots of good energy their way.
Still hanging out in charming Birmingham, Alabama. So I will not be at the farm today. Next weekend looks to be open for me. I hope everyone is having a great 4th!
Dear Family, Please consider making a quick call or sending an email to the mayor, at-large council members, and your council member requesting that they support the ordinance charge being put up by Hens for Houston dealing with a change in the city ordinance for keeping poultry in the city.
Thanks for your time this means a lot to me! Becky NOW is the time to contact City Council and the Mayor and express your support for Hens for Houston! Call or send an email to the council member of your district, all of the at-large council members, and the mayor’s office.
Feel free to write a personalized account of why you think the city ordinance should be changed, why chicken keeping is important to you, and all the many advantages of keeping chickens to individuals, families, and neighborhoods. Check out hensforhouston.com for lots of ideas.
However, if you don’t have the time, that’s OK! Below is a form letter which you can modify as much or as little as you want, add the council member’s name, sign your name and send it on. We’ve attached contact information for all of these folks or you can find it at http://houstontx.gov/council/. Easy and effective; the council keeps track of the number of emails it receives about a given topic. The subject line must say Hens for Houston!
So let’s get ourselves noticed and see how fast we can get this ordinance changed!
Hens for Houston
-------------------------LETTER TO CITY COUNCIL:-----------------------------------
Subject Line (do not change): Hens for Houston
Dear Council Member,
I am writing to you today to voice my support for Hens for Houston’s proposed changes to the city of Houston’s chicken ordinance. Currently, chicken coops must be kept at least 100 feet from a neighbor’s residence, effectively outlawing the raising of hens for many city residents. Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and even Bellaire all have more chicken-friendly ordinances than we do. Why has Houston been left behind?
Small flocks of backyard hens are quiet and clean when properly cared for (like all pets!). They provide healthy and delicious eggs that are far superior to factory farmed eggs. Locally sourced food greatly reduces your carbon footprint; what’s more local than your backyard? Chickens consume many types of table and garden scraps, thus reducing landfill waste. They produce high-quality, nitrogen rich fertilizer for the garden. And they eat bugs! What’s not to love?
Hens for Houston proposes that any change to the existing ordinance include the following: 1) Eliminate the distance constraint which requires coops and chickens to observe an arbitrary setback from neighboring residences. 2) Protect the rights of neighbors by punishing violations of the chicken ordinance to the same degree as violations by other pets. 3) Recognize chicken waste as a valuable fertilizer.
More information about chickens and the proposed ordinance can be found at: http://hensforhouston.com
This is a very important issue for me, which I hope that as my representative you will support as we move forward to update the ordinance!
Thank you for your time and consideration, YOUR NAME YOUR DISTRICT/ZIP CODE
Still hanging out in charming Birmingham, Alabama. So I will not be at the farm today. Next weekend looks to be open for me. I hope everyone is having a great 4th!
ReplyDeleteDear Family,
ReplyDeletePlease consider making a quick call or sending an email to the mayor, at-large council members, and your council member requesting that they support the ordinance charge being put up by Hens for Houston dealing with a change in the city ordinance for keeping poultry in the city.
Thanks for your time this means a lot to me!
Becky
NOW is the time to contact City Council and the Mayor and express your support for Hens for Houston!
Call or send an email to the council member of your district, all of the at-large council members, and the mayor’s office.
Feel free to write a personalized account of why you think the city ordinance should be changed, why chicken keeping is important to you, and all the many advantages of keeping chickens to individuals, families, and neighborhoods. Check out hensforhouston.com for lots of ideas.
However, if you don’t have the time, that’s OK! Below is a form letter which you can modify as much or as little as you want, add the council member’s name, sign your name and send it on. We’ve attached contact information for all of these folks or you can find it at http://houstontx.gov/council/. Easy and effective; the council keeps track of the number of emails it receives about a given topic. The subject line must say Hens for Houston!
So let’s get ourselves noticed and see how fast we can get this ordinance changed!
Hens for Houston
-------------------------LETTER TO CITY COUNCIL:-----------------------------------
Subject Line (do not change): Hens for Houston
Dear Council Member,
I am writing to you today to voice my support for Hens for Houston’s proposed changes to the city of Houston’s chicken ordinance. Currently, chicken coops must be kept at least 100 feet from a neighbor’s residence, effectively outlawing the raising of hens for many city residents. Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and even Bellaire all have more chicken-friendly ordinances than we do. Why has Houston been left behind?
Small flocks of backyard hens are quiet and clean when properly cared for (like all pets!). They provide healthy and delicious eggs that are far superior to factory farmed eggs. Locally sourced food greatly reduces your carbon footprint; what’s more local than your backyard? Chickens consume many types of table and garden scraps, thus reducing landfill waste. They produce high-quality, nitrogen rich fertilizer for the garden. And they eat bugs! What’s not to love?
Hens for Houston proposes that any change to the existing ordinance include the following:
1) Eliminate the distance constraint which requires coops and chickens to observe an arbitrary setback from neighboring residences.
2) Protect the rights of neighbors by punishing violations of the chicken ordinance to the same degree as violations by other pets.
3) Recognize chicken waste as a valuable fertilizer.
More information about chickens and the proposed ordinance can be found at: http://hensforhouston.com
This is a very important issue for me, which I hope that as my representative you will support as we move forward to update the ordinance!
Thank you for your time and consideration,
YOUR NAME
YOUR DISTRICT/ZIP CODE