The Clinton City Council Tuesday night heard from community members interested in a change in policy regarding animals in city limits of the livestock description.

Clinton Police Chief Ben Lowers admits he is the author of the code that would regulate the number of animals allowed in the City of Clinton explaining there has never been a code to enforce when the issue comes up - and he notes, it is a frequent issue the encounter.

According to the Chief, there have been exactly two complaints regarding the number of chickens on a property. He explains in the past there were only estimates regarding how many animals could be on a property and enforcement is difficult because nothing is in writing.

Seth Reddington says this ordinance will impact his home in town.

Sharon Reddington also spoke against the ordinance. She points out it has been an acceptable practice for over a generation to allow animals categorized as livestock to be at her residence in Clinton.

To craft the ordinance, Chief Lowers looked at communities around Clinton. He used mostly the Farmer City ordinance as it is a community that closely resembles Clinton.

While many are critical of the ordinance, Chief Lowers looks at the situation as now there are rules in place to allow something the community wants whereas previously, this was technically an illegal practice. 

The Council approved the measure 4-1.