Two weeks after the Provo Municipal Council had OK'd chickens in backyards, the birds are no longer welcome.
Mayor Lewis Billings vetoed the chicken ordinance on May 5.
Billings says he is not against chickens, but has problems with the way the council proposed regulating poultry. He said it flew in the face of past animal ordinances.
"We've tried mainly to license the animal, not the premises," Billings said.
The council required chicken keepers to have a permit before keeping chickens on their property, and the birds had to stay in an enclosed area.
The permit would have to be renewed each year.
The council's ordinance, Billings said, would require hiring a part-time employee to inspect chicken coops, which would cost up to $50,000 a year.
He said the ordinance was also vague in defining the difference between chicks and chickens. And it doesn't give deference to county health rules, Billings said.
Councilwoman Cynthia Clark, who proposed the ordinance, was disappointed with Billings' veto.
While she wasn't thrilled with the permit requirement, she said it was what the council wanted.
The council approved the measure 4-3, with Council members Cynthia Dayton, Midge Johnson and Cindy Richards voting against it.
"There would be a lot of people who would be disappointed [by the veto]," Clark said.
Clark said she wants to revive the ordinance, either by persuading one of the dissenters to change their vote in a veto override or by reworking the ordinance to Billings' liking.
