Urban poultry has become a hot topic in our community as of late. Currently it is against zoning ordinances to have poultry in the Ashland city limits. A couple of gentlemen are challenging this and it made the local paper that they had approached the city commission about getting this changed. I contacted all of the city commissioners, the mayor and the city manager and offered my services as an impartial entity to provide them with information about how this is handled across the rest of the country.

                I heard back almost immediately from most of them thanking me for the offer and stating that I was someone who had the knowledge and resources impartiality to present information that was not personal or emotional to the various parties.

                So I put together a packet of information and presented it at the next Planning Commission meeting, at the request of the mayor and city manager. The commission ultimately rejected the request on technical grounds.

                It then was taken again before the city commission. At the request of a city commissioner I met with at a Business After Hours chamber event, I prepared another, different more detailed packet for all of the commissioners, the mayor and the city manager to have at their next meeting.

                I have met with one of the commissioners since then and discussed the aftermath, so to speak. It seems that the commission as a whole is reluctant to allow poultry in the city for various reasons, but are working on a potential compromise.

The final outcome is still in the air but all parties involved have thanked me for providing unbiased, fact based information for all to consider.