Neighbors Alarmed by Crackdown on Roosters

Here the question is not whether the chicken or the egg came first, but whether the roosters have to get out of town.

Rooster owner Jeff Thompson said code enforcement officials have told him to get rid of his caged birds because they are in violation of city codes. But Thompson--and nearly 50 of his neighbors who signed a petition--say they want the cocks to stay.

Thompson and his neighbors along 6th Street contend that roosters crowing in the early morning hours are fitting in their pocket of town, an area of Old Town Tustin that still looks like it was built in the era before prefab housing and planned communities shadowed Orange County.

“I think the chickens and the roosters are part of the culture here,” said Ken Ezell, a 6th Street resident. “I really don’t see it as a noise issue.”

Added Rosie Castaneda, another neighbor: “The roosters really don’t bother anybody. In fact, they allow people to wake up at 5 o’clock in the morning.,”

However, the roosters’ sleep-piercing trademark isn’t a cause for cheer to everybody. Senior planner Dana Ogdon said that several area residents have complained about the birds and that, for now, city codes are on their side.

City codes prohibit residents from owning any kind of bird with a distinctive cry, Ogdon said. In order for Thompson to keep his fowl he must file for a code amendment--at a cost of about $800--and have the Planning Commission support him.

The City Council made light of the issue when rooster supporters asked it to intervene in their favor. “I’m going to be chicken and throw it back to the Planning Commission,” joked Mayor Charles E. Puckett.

While Thompson’s roosters continue to signal the sunrise over Old Town Tustin, neighbors say they will make some noise of their own before the Planning Commission.

Said neighbor Chris Blaustone: “This keeps us from being like other neighborhoods where car alarms going off are the national anthem.”