New Franklin residents seek zoning changes for raising chickens, keeping bees

This is a story about the birds and the bees in New Franklin.

Poultry and honey-making insects, that is.

Turns out both are quite popular in the southern Summit County city — enough for residents to make a buzz about it at a recent council meeting.

It happened like this.

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A resident was cited earlier this month for a fowl violation of the city's zoning code, and that ruffled some feathers.

The cited resident began a social media campaign to gather support, and that effort took flight. An enthusiastic hive formed to lobby council for birds-and-bees rights.

Chicken supporters gobble up T-shirts for council meeting

Emily Mueller, a New Franklin resident who keeps poultry and bees on her 5½-acre property, said the residents want to ensure that the new code embraces local aviaries and apiaries. They were also concerned by the citation.

"I think 40 to 50 people showed up," she said. "They had shirts made."

The residents — some wearing #keepourchickens T-shirts — and council members had an animated but civil discussion about the increasingly popular practice of raising chickens. They also showed support for Jennifer Hamilton, who received the citation.

Hamilton said she first posted about what to do about the citation, but interest in her plight grew and grew.

"I'm like the chicken lady, now," she said Friday. "All of my neighbors were there to support us. They showed up in their chicken shirts."

Mayor Paul Adamson said Friday he was surprised by the level of support and impressed by the give-and-take between council and the bird brigade. The mayor addressed the issue in his April 20 daily update on Facebook, making reference to the flock of concerned residents.

"I am expecting maybe there will be a half-dozen people here, and we walk through the door and it's (full)," he said Friday.

Adamson said the city receives few gripes about its poultry population.

"This is not something that we've received complaints about in the past," he said. "The only calls we get are when the chickens get loose."

City seeks solution for bird- and beekeeping residents

The mayor said the chicken challenge issued April 19 has been met and will be addressed at the next council meeting on Wednesday. He plans to serve up a resolution for council's consideration that should please the plucky poultry supporters.

"What we want to try to put together is that we will have a moratorium on the current enforcement code as regarding lot sizes for residents that are currently involved in this activity," he said.

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He's hoping the resolution will give city leaders time to develop changes to the code that will balance the expanded interest in birds and bees with the needs of a growing city.

The moratorium, he said, would affect both the birds and the bees. The mayor said the group came to council at an opportune time as city officials had planned to discuss zoning changes.

"The timing turned out to be divine — not just coincidental," he said. "We've known we've needed changes in our zoning code."

'All in' to rally support for poultry, bees

That's in line with what Mueller has been seeking for years. Since moving to New Franklin from Akron several years ago, she has been evolving her beekeeping business while raising chickens, turkeys and ducks. She wants the code to state explicitly what's allowed.

When Mueller saw the social media post about the citation, she said, she was ready to support the cause.

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"I've been trying to do this since 2017, and I'm all in," she said.

She said she was pleased by council's reaction so far to the residents' concerns about keeping chickens and bees.

"They are completely open to it," she said.

'Their own food': Beekeeper sees growing interest in chickens, bees

Mueller conducts hive-keeping courses for a growing number of bee-curious residents, with the most recent at capacity. She's also seen an increase in people who want to raise chickens for eggs or consumption.

"Since COVID happened, a lot more people are doing their own food," she said. "In the last year, a lot more of my friends have gotten chickens."

She said she's stung about 500 times a year in her work with bees. Some hives are more aggressive than others, she said.

She expects to keep active on the issue as New Franklin brings its code up to date.

"I'm going to be a part of this until I get what I want," she said.

Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: New Franklin residents seek zoning changes for keeping chickens, bees