ACTION ALERT! Meeting with Village Tuesday November 23rd at 7:30 (Village Hall on Wilson)

It is critical that we have a strong show of community support for Tuesday's meeting with the Environmental Concerns Committee. We need every CLUC member to make contact with the village in one way or another in the next few days.

I have a couple of quick requests for everyone:

First, please attend the Tuesday meeting if you are able. We are meeting at Village Hall at 7:30 in the Community room on Tuesday November 23rd (two days from now). You do NOT need to speak, although there will be a chance for community participation. You do not need to stay for the whole meeting, either. In large part, this fight is about numbers -- the more support we can show, the better our chances of legalizing backyard chickens.

Second, if you are unable to attend the meeting, please contact Trustee Moreau and let her know you support backyard chickens in Lombard. Trustee Moreau is the chairperson of the Environmental Concerns Committee. She can be reached by e-mail (moreaud@villageoflombard.org) or phone (630-889-8550).

All an e-mail would need to say is: I am a Lombard resident/homeowner. I am unable to attend the ECC meeting Tuesday, but wanted you to know I support backyard chickens.

Feel free to copy and paste! You may want to add your street or general location. Easy, quick way to make an impact.

Lastly, PLEASE contact your Trustee and let them know you support CLUC. We really need every CLUC member to get in contact with their trustee soon! This link will take you to a map of Lombard that shows your district and trustee:

http://www.villageoflombard.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=845

Again, phone calls or e-mails can be brief: Dear Trustee xx, I am a Lombard resident in your district. I support backyard chickens in Lombard because (whatever your reason is: fresh eggs, you support local food, humane treatment of animals, economic source of high quality food, food safety, personal freedom...whatever your personal reason). I hope I can count on you to support CLUC's efforts to make backyard eggs legal in Lombard.

Of course, feel free to elaborate for those that want to. This is a chance for us to educate the Village board on the backyard chicken issue.

Thanks, everyone! If we all take a few minutes to make our support known to the village, we can win this fight!

October 26th Environmental Concerns Committee Notes

Thank you, CLUC members! We had an excellent meeting with the Environmental Concerns Committee last night! Over 20 people attended the meeting to show support for backyard chickens in Lombard. We now have over 140 petition signatures!

The meeting was very positive with lots of questions and discussion. We have some strong advocates on the committee. They have agreed to consider the chicken issue and gather more information about nearby municipalities that allow chickens. This information will likely be discussed at their November meeting (Nov 23, 7:30 p.m.).

This is a great first step for Lombard and CLUC. We could not have done it without everyone's hard work! Stay tuned for more details about the November meeting as we move forward!

CLUC needs your help!

Citizens of Lombard for Urban Chickens has the chance to present at the October 26th Environmental Concerns Committee meeting at 7:30 pm. This would be a first step towards getting our ordinances changed to allow chickens.

In order to move ahead, we *need* a show of community support. We can show this in two ways:

1. Attendance at the October 26th meeting. If you are available (just to show up, no speaking or homework required!) please let us know by commenting on this post, e-mail (lombardchickens@gmail.com) or via the Facebook site.

2. Gathering signatures on our petition. We need as many Lombard residents as possible to sign! Please consider downloading a petition and collecting signatures.

If you have ideas for ways to circulate petitions, please let us know!

Our Petition to the Village of Lombard

Amending the ordinances of the Village of Lombard to allow small flocks of backyard poultry would promote sustainability and the public welfare.

1) Backyard poultry ensure that residents have access to safe, local eggs.
2) Backyard poultry eat insects and weeds, improving the residential environment.
3) Backyard poultry can reduce waste by eating food scraps.
4) Backyard poultry are already permitted in other cities within DuPage County (including Naperville, Downers Grove, and Westmont) and Cook County (including Chicago, Oak Park, and Evanston).
5) In uncertain economic times, backyard poultry provide a measure of financial security for residents.
6) Backyard poultry make excellent and entertaining pets.
7) Perceived nuisance issues with background poultry are already regulated under existing Village ordinance.