The planning commission has been asked to review again a request for a special use permit to keep hens at a house on Hycliff Road.
But the Rome City Commission also is hoping the citizen-board will come up with some rules to address an issue that continues to resurface.
“They’d like you to consider some conditions and standards that might allow the keeping of a small number of chickens while, at the same time, protect the rights of adjacent property owners,” Planning Director Sue Hiller told members Thursday.
This will be the fourth time in two years that chickens have been on the agenda. Hiller is researching ordinances in other communities to prepare a set of options for discussion.
One possibility is to limit the residential zones where hens are allowed and require a permit or license through the city clerk or building official. Hiller said that would trigger an actual on-site inspection of the premises.
Banding each chicken also would instantly identify any that are running loose or have not been licensed — an idea that met with approval from several planning commission members Thursday.
Still, member Joel Holcombe said he wants to be sure homeowners associations would be able to bar poultry, and a number of others insisted a response to neighbors’ complaints must be included. The discussion is scheduled for the board’s 2:30 p.m. meeting on Dec. 6.
In other action Thursday, the planning commission tabled a request for a special use permit to build a four-unit apartment building on Avenue B, until the applicant submits more information.
“We need to protect the investment of the Madison group,” said member Nathan Roberts, in reference to the developers of a nearby Publix shopping center under construction on Turner McCall Boulevard.
The rezoning of a home on Pleasant Valley Road to a residential classification from light industrial netted a unanimous recommendation of approval.
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