Amend the City of Lago Vista Ordinance to allow residents to keep hens in their backyard.

We, the undersigned citizens of Lago Vista, believe that chickens belong within the city limits in residential areas. The City ordinance should be changed to allow a small number of backyard hens for the following reasons:

--Raising backyard chickens allows you to control what they eat, their living conditions, and how they are treated. No need to worry about food safety, antibiotics, or hormones.
-- Chickens produce a rich fertilizer by-product, high in nitrogen, eliminating the need for petrochemical fertilizers.
-- Chickens eat bugs, including ticks, reducing our backyard pest population, and allowing for reduced use of pesticides.
-- Backyard hens provide an educational opportunity to teach children where our food comes from and demonstrate responsible pet ownership.
-- Fresh, naturally raised eggs have an improved nutrient profile compared to conventional eggs.
-- Chickens eat table scrapes, reducing municipal solid waste.
-- A properly cleaned and maintained chicken coop poses no sanitation risks.

By amending the City ordinance to allow residents to keep a limited number of hens in residential zones, the City of Lago Vista will encourage stewardship of the environment and food production on a household scale