City of Mattawa reviews chicken licensing; gives seniors a discount

MATTAWA — The Mattawa City Council updated the city’s chicken ordinance during its regular meeting Thursday.

In an April 1 meeting, Mayor Maggie Celaya said she wanted to make it easier for residents to apply for a chicken license. At the time, the ordinance said chicken owners had to have a chicken coop license and have the coop inspected prior to chickens arriving on the property. An annual license was also required for all chicken owners each year.

During Thursday’s meeting, Celaya told council members what she thought should be removed or simplified. She proposed putting the chicken license and dog licenses on the same form and instating a one-time fee for residents older than 65.

When asked during the meeting if she had chickens on her property, Celaya said she did.

One of the major discussions was whether all types of residences should be allowed to have chickens or if only single-family residences should be allowed.

“I think anyone who lives in the city can have chickens if they choose,” said council member Tony Acosta. “I think we need to allow it across the board. The landlords can make a rule (against them).”

But council member Sun Hwang, who owns apartments and a trailer court in Mattawa, said he thought only allowing single-family residences to have chickens made “better sense” to him.

“A trailer court is very small compared to single family residences,” Hwang said. “Our rental agreement is based on city ordinance. We can’t have our own rules.”

City of Mattawa Attorney Katherine Kennison said chicken owners must have enough space in their yard to allow for the coop offset.

Council member Alex Heredia said he agreed with Hwang and allowing residents in multi-family dwellings to have chickens could lead to complaints and sanitation issues due to a lack of yard space.

The council, with the exception of Acosta, voted to leave the ordinance as it was and only allow single-family residences to have chickens. They also approved a one-time senior fee for ages 65 and older.

But during the discussion, a question about noisy roosters was raised. The current chicken ordinance prohibits roosters inside city limits. Kennison said dealing with roosters was a code enforcement issue.

Also during recent chicken discussions, nothing was said about enforcing the license requirements for the unlicensed chickens in the city.

At the April 1 meeting, Celaya said she wanted to reform the process of getting a chicken license. A one-time fee of $50 was required to license a chicken coop, with an additional $10 annual fee. Mattawa City Clerk Anabel Martinez said when residents hear about the fees, they leave and don’t apply for the license.

Records obtained by Columbia Basin Herald in February of all the chicken licenses issued in the city for the past 10 years, show the only chicken license applied for was in 2018 by a resident on Fourth Street.