$75 city rebate for a chicken coop? We suspect fowl play

Why the City of Austin is offering $75 per person in taxpayer money to help prospective urban farmers buy chicken coops seems strange when chickens are already in heavy demand. We at the Tracker can't resist a good mystery, and decided to scratch around for an answer.

There is no shortage of demand for backyard chickens in Austin. Chickens are hot. Everyone's peckish for farm-fresh eggs. There's even a popular documentary on Netflix featuring those who keep chickens as pets.

So incentivizing chicken ownership can't be the goal of this rebate. What else is there?


City officials have pointed to composting as a reason for backyard chickens to be kept. "Keeping chickens is a great way to keep your food waste out of the landfill; chickens recycle your food scraps while giving you fresh eggs and creating healthy soil," a press release from the city read.

Yet the city is spending around $13 million annually for trucks, 32-gallon carts and several dozen full-time employees to carry out a curbside composting program. So that can't be the impetus for this rebate program. Nor is the city allowing for do-it-yourself home-made coops to quickly proliferate chickens across the city.

What could the real reason be? Well, about three years ago there was significant back and forth regarding urban farms -- particularly Springdale Farm in the Govalle neighborhood that become somewhat of a phenom with plenty of customers, tours, and performance artists in tow. It's worth a visit.

The explosive growth of urban farming brought in too much economic activity for the city not to regulate it. Click the links in the text above to learn the background of how Austin managed to slow down yet another expanding trend through ordinance changes where once there was plenty of leeway for innovation. And if you're thinking about starting your own "Green Acres" experiment within the Austin city limits, don't get cocky: see the restrictions here. It's not impossible (assuming you have the space in your yard to keep your coop 50 feet away from a home) but there are considerations.

Now what about that underlying motive for the city to spend our money on this? Surely city regulators aren't nefarious henchmen who routinely hatch plots to foil capitalism. Or, at least, they don't see themselves that way. Alas, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Neighbors complaining about flies, odors, and noise (or who suffer from a severe case of NIMBYism) made their cases known. Plus, chickens are a relatively new sight in the urban landscape, whereas we're accustomed to dog barks and cat smells.

To address these growing numbers of complaints, the city found a sneaky way to send city inspectors to your property without having to fight against an army of trend-followers to crack down on everyone's favorite egg-layers. Accept that irresistible offer of $75 per store-bought coop and ...

"City staff will conduct research related to the home composting products and chicken coops purchased, including how the products and coops are being used. A rebate recipient must cooperate with City staff conducting the research."

"Research."  "Must cooperate." There you have it. Accept the money, and you're letting city inspectors on your property. And if your coop fails inspection?

"If a rebate recipients fails to comply with these terms and conditions, the rebate recipient must repay any rebate provided."

Unmentioned would be a subsequent visit from Austin Code Compliance, which may end up costing you way more than $75.

Not to get your feathers all ruffled, but this is another lesson learned: government is designed to regulate, tax, and spend -- not to help you with your new backyard hobby or to satisfy your desire for pet ownership. Taxpayer beware.

UPDATE:
Maybe SB 1620, which passed the Senate recently, will provide some relief .