My name is Jason, and I’m part of the Civic Engagement Team at Change.org. Our mission is to connect petition supporters with decision makers and to help foster healthy civic engagement in our communities.

We reached out to Planning & Zoning to understand where things stand on allowing backyard chickens in Escanaba. We learned that the process had been started some time ago and moved through several steps; the item is now with the City Council awaiting a vote.

That means your City Council member likely has context on why a vote hasn’t occurred yet, what barriers exist, and what could help a proposal succeed.

How to stay engaged: Consider contacting your Council member respectfully and directly to share why you support backyard chickens and what guardrails you’d like to see (e.g., flock size, setbacks, sanitation). You can find Council contact information here: https://www.escanaba.org/citycouncil

We hope you find this update useful,

Jason and the Civic Engagement Team