FORRESTON — Forreston residents will not be allowed to own chickens within village limits.

On July 17, Forreston Village Board members voted 5-1 against a proposed chicken ordinance. Trustee Brittany Busker was the only vote in favor of allowing chickens; all other trustees voted no.

“I think we’ve done our due diligence as far as trying to get more information from the public,” Village President Mark Metzger said prior to the vote. “I think, as far as the information we’ve received and what’s been talked about, we will take a vote on this.”

The proposed ordinance initially was presented at the Village Board’s March 20 meeting, at which point board members decided to schedule an Ordinance Committee meeting to review the details. That committee meeting took place April 10.

On May 2, a poll was posted on the village’s Facebook page with the intent of gauging community interest in the ordinance. Voting on that poll was not limited to Forreston residents.

Seventeen people attended a special Village Board meeting on June 26, eight of whom voiced opposition to the ordinance; the other attendees did not speak. Their concerns included odor, sanitation, clarity of the proposed rules, impact on property value and fears that the ordinance wouldn’t be enforced.

Three people commented on the proposed ordinance during the July 17 meeting.

“We had 18, 20 people here [on June 26] that don’t want chickens, and if it’s that important, where are the people that want the chickens to describe their side of the story as to why they want chickens and why they support it?” resident Shawn Loomis said. “If it wasn’t important then, it shouldn’t be important now.”

Prior to Monday’s vote, Trustee Katie Kalina said she wanted it on record that her vote was not reflective of her personal opinion. Kalina voted against the ordinance.

“There was a comment made during public comment that 18 people would be mad,” Kalina said. “There’ll be plenty of people mad that it’s not there either, but they don’t feel like they have a voice to come here and speak. So I just want that to be on the record.”