Chickens come first as developers wait Chickens come first as developers wait (October 28, 2005)

Everyone enjoys a 'down-home' presentation
by Jeb Bing

Four chickens - Victoria, Marilyn, April and Gilbert - took center stage at a Planning Commission public hearing last week while two shopping center developers waited in the wings.

It was all part of an agreement with Commission Chairwoman Trish Maas to let the hens' caregivers, Haley and Sophie Hudson and their parents Sarah and Lon Hudson, ask the commission for a conditional use permit to keep their four hens as backyard pets. The Hudsons, who live on Malaga Court, were the second Pleasanton family in as many months to seek chicken permits, which only a few U.S. cities besides Pleasanton still allow in residential areas.

It was a scene of contrasts as the developers, representing Flexxon Operating Ltd. -- an Atlanta-based shopping center builder, and a larger group representing the Nordstrom department store and the Mills Group, owners of Stoneridge Shopping Center, waited with their PowerPoint presentations and architect's renderings as the Hudsons engaged in a half-hour dialogue about the benefits of chickens, a presentation that included color-printer photos and descriptions of Rhode Island Reds, a grey Araucana and a black Gold-Laced Wyandotte.

"Our chickens have provided an educational experience for our girls," Lon Hudson told planners. "They're beautiful, clean and easy to care for. We've gone to great lengths to make sure our chickens are not a problem for our neighbors."

Haley Hudson talked about looking out the kitchen window as the hens laid eggs.

"They're just like family to me," she said. "When I go outside, they come running up to me and ask for scratches. They all have special personalities."

Vanessa Kawaihu, a Happy Valley homeowner, said the Pleasanton area has a long tradition of having chickens on its home sites. She said raising chickens is a good project for children and teaches them where eggs come from.

To the applause of everyone, the commission voted to give the Hudsons their conditional use permit, taking a brief break to let the Hudson girls go home to do their homework as the developers prepared for their three hours of public hearings.

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