LAGO VISTA - Raising your own chickens is part of the latest trend in cleaner eating.
“The taste of organic eggs is completely different than anything you buy at the store,” said resident Jacinda Rodeghiero.
The idea of eating chicken products loaded with hormones and antibiotics is ruffling many feathers.
“People want to raise their own birds,” said Callahan's General Store manager Mike Young.
But raising these animals takes a lot of effort.
“Raising chicks takes about six months before you can even get an egg from them,” said Rodeghiero.
“You need a coop to put these chickens in when you first bring them home. You lock them up for three or four days and then they become acclimated in that coop,” said Young.
But that’s a problem for those living in Lago Vista, where rules make it difficult to obtain a special permit to keep chickens on their property.
The city council is hatching a plan to make it easier.
“The idea is to loosen our regulatory requirements to allow ‘by right’,” says city spokesman Adam Harrell.
A city ordinance would eliminate the need for a lengthy application process that includes scrutiny from the council and a recommendation from the local planning and zoning commission.
If the city ordinance is passed, Lago Vista residents will be allowed to keep chicken coops without having to go through a special permit.
The ordinance would set a standard for the way residents can keep the animals.
"We would set the maximum number of chickens on the property. Chickens only. No roosters. Locations for the coop. Where the chickens would be housed. And also certain distances for those from single family homes or homes in general and golf courses," said Harrell.
The council will meet again next Thursday, Nov. 3, at the city library. That meeting is open to the public.