When Dana and Marvin Maaba bought their rural property in McHenry, it was with the plan of having an emu farm.

On Monday, the couple plans to put their 2 acres on the market and give up their fight with the city of McHenry to revert their land along West Crystal Lake Road to agricultural zoning, as it was when they bought it.

[ See more photos of the McHenry emu farm ]

The rezoning request is on the agenda for Monday’s McHenry City Council meeting.

“This was supposed to be our forever home, with our children and emu farm,” Marvin Maaba said.

Had they known the city was planning to annex the property, they never would have purchased it or put up the fencing, Dana Maaba said.

The couple purchased the land Dec. 30, 2020. They said they spent thousands to place a 6-foot, vinyl privacy fence around the long and narrow lot and, on Jan. 3, 2021, purchased six fertilized emu eggs from a Kentucky breeder for cash.

“When we bought the property, we were agricultural and unincorporated,” Marvin Maaba said.

Then, in August 2022, with McHenry surrounding the property on all sides, the city forced incorporation on 17 parcels and 150 acres of land.

The annexed properties were rezoned to various residential classifications and estate districts. Land being farmed for crops still would be farmed, but other nonconforming uses – such as livestock – had a year to comply with the new zoning.

That information was included in letters sent to the couple and others in the annexed areas, according to the McHenry staff report. The Maabas did not reach out to the city to discuss their birds, according to the report.

The Maabas continued to raise their emus. They have three now, and they mostly use the eggs to feed their family, which includes a 3-month-old.

Dana Maaba said they didn’t know that being incorporated would mean they couldn’t have the birds.

“We were in the process of starting a family and thought it would just be a tax increase for us,” she said. “We didn’t really know there were other consequences.”

Had the city approached them at the time and let them know they had a year to get into compliance, they probably would have gotten out then, she added.

Emus were their livestock choice because the birds are “extremely friendly, cuddly and trainable,” while being good with children, Dana Maaba said, adding that one emu egg is the equivalent of about a dozen chicken eggs. That is what they are using the birds for now – for the eggs, not for meat.

According to documents included in the City Council’s meeting packet, McHenry became aware of the emus in April after an anonymous complaint, but could not confirm their existence until Oct. 3.

City staff have questioned the timing of the couple’s purchase of their fertilized emu eggs, for which they have a handwritten receipt, and note that they could not find photos of the birds on the couple’s social media before August 2024.

There is also a concern, according to the staff report, that allowing the continued presence of the birds would lead to “additional farm animals on the property, including cows, pigs, sheep and other cattle, which is not in compliance with the Vision 2050 Comprehensive Plan recommendation for neighborhood commercial.”

At an Oct. 15 meeting, planning and zoning commissioners rejected the Maabas’ request to revert the property to agricultural zoning with variances based on the existing lot size.

So they will sell their home and find somewhere else to raise the birds and their family, Dana Maaba said. They have asked their attorney to let the city know they will not fight to change the zoning anymore.