Why did the chicken cross the road?

Because it could.

And that’s why the Warren City Council is tightening up the City Code as it applies to chicken coops located inside the city.

Changes make clear there are no free-range chickens allowed in the city, no roosters, and a permit will be required to build a chicken coop because they are now considered auxiliary buildings. The new code language also gives the city the ability to check on permits to make sure chicken owners followed the city’s guidelines as to where the coop is located.

Roosters in the city limits are also prohibited. New language in the city code will require a permit for new chicken coops and also gives city officials more authority to make sure city residents are complying with the code’s requirements regarding barn animals in the city limits.

Those boundaries are necessary. Concerns over avian influenza aren’t going away.

Backyard flocks have had confirmed cases of avian influenza, including a case last fall in Venango County, Pennsylvania. Setting limits on the number of chickens in backyard flocks is important for watershed management as well.

The changes approved recently by the council are common sense changes that allow those who want to raise chickens in the city to do so while protecting neighbors who don’t want free range chickens on their properties or the noise from roosters.

City officials aren’t telling people not to have chickens in Warren, but they are setting some necessary boundaries.