On Thursday Safety Harbor city commissioners will gather to make a final vote on whether or not to allow residents to keep backyard chickens.
The ordinance comes at the time of a major warning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that says backyard chickens are causing more salmonella outbreaks.
Should the law pass, residents not under the jurisdiction of HOA will be allowed to keep the birds in their backyard. Safety Harbor would be joining other cities also involved in this movement like St. Petersburg, Dunedin, Gulfport and Largo.
The CDC is encouraging people who do have chickens to not treat them as pets, keep their faces away from the birds, and always wash their hands after handling the backyard birds.
Officials told WFLA that more cases of salmonella have been coming up and many believe it is due to the chickens.
The city commission meeting will take place at 7:00 p.m. Thursday night at City Hall.
