Urban Chickens

[MidTowner]

Oh, and our endless suburban expanses are hardly so dense as to make the concept of backyard chickens ridiculous.

The majority of urban chicken owners really will be fairly urban rather than suburban. You'll have more in neighbourhoods like Mount Hope than Stanley Park, let alone Deer Park or wherever. I tend to think they should be allowed, with a limit on the number of birds and maybe a ban on roosters, as long as you can keep them a reasonable distance away from neighbours. I agree with panamaniac that fifty feet seems excessive- my neighbours used to have their birds less than thirty feet from my home, and I never noticed the smell and only from time to time the noise. For things like smell and whatnot, that would be covered under other bylaws I would imagine, and the humane society could always get involved (if the smell is from improper cleaning of the coop).