{"id":413646,"date":"2026-09-29T10:56:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T10:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/413646\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T10:56:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T10:56:31","slug":"stuart-commissioners-seek-resident-input-before-deciding-on-backyard-chickens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/413646\/","title":{"rendered":"Stuart commissioners seek resident input before deciding on backyard chickens"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>MARTIN COUNTY, Fla (CBS12) \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/stuartfl.new.swagit.com\/videos\/402470\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stuart commissioners <\/a>are not ready to make a final decision on allowing backyard chickens.<\/p>\n<p><p>Stuart commissioners seek resident input before deciding on backyard chickens. CBS12&#8217;s Paige Meyer reports.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Instead, commissioners discussed creating a citywide survey during Monday night\u2019s meeting to gauge whether residents support allowing hens and whether they would consider keeping chickens themselves.<\/p>\n<p>The survey could be distributed through utility bills, online and with hard copies available throughout the city. Commissioners also discussed ways to verify that responses come from Stuart residents, including using a property address or utility account number.<\/p>\n<p>Backyard Chicken QuestionnairePDF previewPreview PDF<\/p>\n<p>Backyard Chicken Questionnaire<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"PdfEmbed_downloadLink__tZFvP\" href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/resources\/pdf\/dea03c39-a3b2-4cd3-ba0b-522d0332d665-BackyardChickenQuestionnaire.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">View PDF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The commission did not approve a backyard-chicken ordinance or pilot program Monday night.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters said allowing hens could give families access to fresh eggs and more control over their food sources. Several people spoke in favor of starting with a pilot program before making any permanent changes.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Stuart commissioners seek resident input before deciding on backyard chickens (Sinclair)\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"365\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/831289a1-6083-4a41-ba26-afeb38283182-Animals_Hen_Chicken_Eggs_IC.png\" width=\"648\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Stuart commissioners seek resident input before deciding on backyard chickens (Sinclair)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am in support of the pilot program,\u201d Stuart resident Bonnie Moser said. \u201cI think you could definitely incorporate existing families who already do have chickens into that program because if this doesn\u2019t pass, we\u2019re going to lose our chickens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others raised concerns about potential noise, odors, pests and whether chicken waste could affect water quality.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Stuart commissioners seek resident input before deciding on backyard chickens (Storyline)\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"364\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/4d730667-5fa2-41de-a09c-e11c6c1c27eb-IMG_5188.jpg\" width=\"648\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Stuart commissioners seek resident input before deciding on backyard chickens (Storyline)<\/p>\n<p>Commissioners also discussed unresolved questions involving permits, coop requirements, neighbor notification, inspections and code enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCurrently, state law prohibits code enforcement from entering someone\u2019s backyard without a search warrant. There\u2019s going to have to be some regulation by the commission that authorizes the code enforcement person to access the backyard,\u201d said Lee Baggett, Stuart city attorney.<\/p>\n<p>A previous proposal would have allowed up to four hens at some single-family homes. Roosters would not have been allowed.<\/p>\n<p>City Manager Michael Mortell said the matter could return to the commission as soon as its second meeting in October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MARTIN COUNTY, Fla (CBS12) \u2014 Stuart commissioners are not ready to make a final decision on allowing backyard&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-413646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}