A number of Bedford residents came to the meeting on February 6 ready to talk chicken, specifically the type that live in backyards and lay eggs.
Resident and chicken advocate, Rhiannon Sanchez, addressed the council during the public comment section of the meeting. She said she hoped “together . . . we can work through past prejudices that some of us might have towards backyard chickens, and that we can come up with rules, regulations and restrictions that we can agree on.
Two regulations Sanchez recommended would be that there would be no roosters (which is common in most cities) and that there would be revocable permits for people who do not follow the rules.
She stated the benefits of chickens go beyond their obvious egg-laying qualities. She said that chickens eat ticks and mosquitos in the summer, and the also eat table scraps which can reduce waste going to landfills. Their droppings can even make great fertilizer, she said.
Compared with other animals that are allowed to live in the city, she said “a chicken is not going to bark all day while your neighbor is at work, and it is not going to get out and bite somebody.”
Tony Boersma, who lives in town, said he thinks the chickens are not going to be a nuisance or a hassle.
“It’s going to be something Bedford can put on a website and say, ‘Hey we are welcoming to people who want chickens,'” he said.
Sanchez said, “Most of our neighboring communities have already amended their ordinances to allow for backyard chickens. We are simply asking for the same opportunity. …”
Earlier in the meeting, Bedford City Manager Mike Mallis reminded the public that there will be a number of infrastructure projects coming in the near future and along with those, there will be “some inconveniences.”
The first construction he mentioned was the work the state will be doing on the Norfield Road bridge. The sizeable bridge runs from Union Street on the south side of the bridge almost to Solon Road on the north as it passes high above Broadway Avenue and Tinkers Creek. He said ODOT has not announced an official start time as of yet, but it will probably start sometime in early March weather permitting.
He said they will probably need to access parts of the Bedford Cemetery in order to do work on the underside of some portions of the bridge. The bridge has been in various states of disrepair over the years, but since it is a state bridge, the city could not really do much about it except ask that it be fixed.
“Northfield Road is owned by the state of Ohio, not the city, so it would never be in this shape if that was our route,” said Mayor Stan Koci.
Mallis said ODOT will also be resurfacing Broadway Avenue from one end of the city to the other. He said once they get the timeline and the logistics, the city will share them with everyone.
Ward 6 Rep. Don Saunders, who worked on the Northfield Road bridge in the 1980s, said he thinks the ODOT plans for keeping lanes of the bridge open through the whole operation might be a bit overconfident.
“If they think they are going to get that without closing it at times, they are mistaken,” he said. Their construction is optimistic. We should see how it goes especially with Broadway going in underneath it. So, the town’s two main streets coming through are going to be tied up all summer.”
Saunders also mentioned that people in the neighborhoods he represents living around the now-closed University Hospitals Bedford Medical Center are upset about the large concrete blocks that have been placed in the parking lot aprons on Garden Street and Blaine Street.
He said the blocks are hazardous to pedestrians, and they are actually in the public right-of-way. Not only that, he said they make the area look like “an abandoned industrial district.”
Resident Sandy Slater voiced her concerns to the council about the increasing gunfire in the area, particularly after the recent shootings of two teenagers in the Corkhill Road and Lee Road South area. The 13-year-old who died was from Maple Heights. See related story at WKYC Suspect Captured.
“Of course all of us are devastated when we hear something like that,” Slater said. “There had been shootings last year, too. … I think if we can address it and continue to talk about it, I think all of us would appreciate it.”
Slater said a neighbor of hers was shooting a gun recently to celebrate moving into the new house. Mallis said that if anyone hears gunshots, they should call the regular 9-1-1 since that can be considered an emergency.
In other business, the council:
- Approved an ordinance declaring the property and structure on 97 Northfield Rd. a nuisance, condemning the property. Mallis stated the property was last sold in 2020 and currently has $23,000 in back taxes. He said he hopes condemning the property will allow the city additional tools to get in touch with the owners to try remediation.
- Mallis said there is help available for people with their delinquent property taxes through CHN Housing Partners if they go to the city website https://bedfordoh.gov/chn-housing-partners-housing-and-community-services/.
