Egg-citing times in Pinehurst

PINEHURST — It took Mayor Bob Jutila as the tiebreaker, but it looks like Pinehurst is going to the birds, or more specifically the chickens.

After being approached last month by Pinehurst-resident Cheryl Mathis, who requested that the City Council allow chickens inside city limits, the board held a vote earlier this month where it was voted that they would move forward in developing an ordinance allowing chickens inside Pinehurst.

Due diligence was done on the part of the city, who tabled discussions initially following Mathis’ request, in order to research how other local cities are handling the issue and how it has worked for them.

Mathis also did her part during the month between meetings by securing more than 70 signatures on a petition of her fellow Pinehurst residents in favor of allowing the domesticated fowl to reside within their city.

While there was considerable community support, the Pinehurst City Council was split on the matter as Councilmen Larry Yergler and Rick Fuller voted in favor creating an ordinance, while Councilwoman Nancy Burkhart and Councilman Jeff Lambert voted against an ordinance.

Mayor Jutila’s tie-breaking vote in favor of the ordinance now has the council looking into what they want for the specifics of their ordinance.

The dissenting opinions, despite being on the losing side, were definitely fair and echo the very basic of human issues.

Things like, knowing that there will be people who will take good care of the chickens and be responsible owners and that there will be people who won’t.

As well as, discussing how the Pinehurst Police Department would have to enforce any new ordinance.

“I could see where their concerns were coming from, but I don’t think that it’s going to be an issue,” Mayor Jutila said. “There are other cities in the area who already have ordinances like these in place and they are working well for them.”

Several cities in the Silver Valley, including Kellogg and Wallace have chicken ordinances in place.

It was also mentioned that currently, many residents do not license their dogs as required per city ordinance.

The Pinehurst City Council doesn’t expect to have the ordinance completed right away, but instead is looking at having it ready to review in the next few months.

For more information, please contact the city of Pinehurst at 208-682-3721.