An End To Rumors

"Have you heard... TC is going to reverse it's decision to allow Urban Chickens."

"I heard you can no longer have Urban Chickens in TC."

"You guys better enjoy your chickens now because you wont be able to have them for much longer."

These are just some of the rumors I've been hearing over the past month regarding our little slice of life here in Traverse City. Let me say this clearly and proudly for all to hear.

THESE RUMORS ARE FALSE

Every time someone has approached me with one of these rumors they have been unable to substantiate where their news originally came from, what basis for the reversal of a 2009 ruling that passed with 100% acceptance would be, and what made them think it might be true. This has done only what rumors can do best... increase the rate of their spread. It's like those Facebook posts or Emails you get about how you should post this on your wall or forward this onto all your friends. Pure self-perpetuating.

One of the greatest "gotchas" to Spam is the fact that a large portion of it is sent by the very people who are complaining about it the most. All of the "send this email onto X number of people" and all of the others that fit the same bill. You are creating your own type of Spam that you are then inflicting on others. And that's what rumors like this one do. They self-perpetuate simply because they have no facts to be based on.

But in the interest of getting to the bottom of things and finding out the truth, my own little Snopes adventure if you will, I've searched through the TC Commissioner meeting notes and agendas for the past 3 months looking for clues. There are none. I then decided to take things a step further and I contacted one of our TC Commissioners to get the skinny on things.

I don't want to quote them without their express consent but they mentioned that they had not heard of this, it has not been brought up to the Commission, and it was his understanding that the ordinance has been a success and that people are happy with it all around. They also mentioned that they'd heard nothing negative and that they continue to support the ordinance. It doesn't get more crystal clear than that.

So where in the world did this thing even start? I have a theory my friends and it comes from one of our neighboring cities and the general misunderstanding that a lot of the general public may have when they read the local news for a different town other than their own.

You see very recently Petoskey, Michigan decided against urban chickens and for some reason that area has a large number of opposition to it. Even though it's been extremely successful here and in Ann Arbor as well as countless other cities across the US, they still decided against it. I won't do those small minded people the honor of listing some of their reasons but I believe the fact that Petoskey voted against it and there was so much opposition AND this all happened very recently leads me to believe this is the original source of the rumor. Or rather, the seed that started the rumor.

Add on the fact that our 2nd Annual TC Coop Loop tour is less that 2 weeks away and you have something else that people are talking about here locally that is bringing urban chickens up in conversation more and more. Oh and didn't you hear about Petoskey. Oh and didn't you hear they were doing that in TC also. So on, so on, so on.

So there you have it my friends. The truth and the possible reasons for the hullabaloo in the first place. Remember, the TC Coop Loop is on May 21st from 11am till 2pm and TC Urban Chickens rock!