Chelsea Council Passes First Reading of Deer Ordinance

Chelsea City Council passed the first reading of Ordinance No. 191, which would prohibit deer feeding within the city limits, at the Sept. 15 meeting. City Attorney Mariah Fink stated at the meeting that the ordinance was “in response to a number of comments during public comment regarding the deer activity in the city.”

“Deer feeding is not legal in the state of Michigan if it is intended to bring deer into your area for hunting,” Fink said. “But basically, there is a deer feeding ban sort of statewide. This is more specific to the city of Chelsea, and the idea is that if we’re not feeding deer, maybe they’ll go somewhere else. I don’t have any statistics on how well that works, but I think that with some of the recommended other information in the memo that I presented to you today, is at least a good start.”

Many members of city council expressed support for the ordinance, with the exception of councilmember Tony Ianelli, who raised concerns about the potential impact of enforcement of the ban.

“I’m voting no on this, and I’ll say because, number one, it encourages people to narc on their neighbors,” Ianelli said. “It’s not neighborly.”

Ianelli went on to say that if residents are feeding deer “excessively,” then it needs to be addressed. However, he disagreed with the proposed approach.

The first reading of the ordinance passed 5-1, with Ianelli being the sole dissenting vote and councilmember Beth Morris being absent from the meeting. A second reading of the ordinance will be held at the city council’s next meeting, scheduled for Oct. 6.