CAMARILLO : Planners to Loosen Curbs on Birds

Bowing to the demands of local bird owners, the Camarillo Planning Commission has decided to loosen restrictions on medium and large birds in a proposed ordinance limiting how many feathery pets residents may keep.

Commissioners rejected as too restrictive a planning staff proposal to prohibit residents from keeping more than 10 small birds for every 1,500 square feet of area, or four large birds total.

The staff proposal defined large birds as those weighing more than one-half pound.

Commissioners directed staff to add a new category for medium-sized birds and redraft the law to allow up to 10 small birds and five medium-sized birds per 1,500 square feet of lot area and a total of up to four large birds.

In addition, the commission loosened the weight guidelines.

Small birds will be those weighing less than one-half pound, such as canaries and finches.

Birds weighing between one-half and 1 1/3 pounds, including most cockatoos, will be called medium-sized under the ordinance.

And only those birds that typically weigh more than 1 1/3 pounds, such as macaws, will be classified as large.

Commissioner Les Meredith said he agreed with residents at the meeting who argued that keeping or breeding birds is a self-limiting hobby.

“The person who lives with those birds has to live with them, and is the greatest recipient of the noise,” Meredith said.