Wayland Board of Health advances rooster ban, new animal-keeping rules

WAYLAND — March 11, 2024 — Wayland Board of Health advances rooster ban and staff-level permitting in animal-keeping rewrite. The board held a public hearing Monday on revisions to the town's 1983 animal-keeping regulation, closing the hearing at 7:20 p.m. without a vote and signaling adoption at its next meeting. Chair Robert Defrancesco and members Jonathan Storer, Genevieve Anand and Bob Ayer reviewed draft language that prohibits roosters outright, lets Health Director Julia Junghanns approve standard permits, and adds notification for dwellings within 150 feet in dense neighborhoods. Resident David Alexander urged a mandatory 300-foot setback, writing it is "much harder to revoke a permit after it's granted." The board separately voted unanimously to repeat last year's cyanobacteria testing protocol at the town beach, with $650 in microcystin strips and potential Metro West Health Foundation grant support.