Evanston’s Environment Board approved ordinances allowing hen ownership and amending green building standards at its monthly meeting Thursday night at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave.

The ordinances will be reviewed by the Evanston Human Services Committee before the Evanston City Council can vote on their passage.

The board voted 6-2 to amend Evanston’s Public Safety Code, which currently prohibits residents from owning horses, mules, swine, sheep, goats, cattle, poultry, skunks or poisonous reptiles. If the City Council approves it, Evanston residents who choose to will be able to own between two and six hens.

None of the eight residents who attended the board meeting chose to comment on the hen issue, but it appeared to be the reason they attended. All left after the vote.

Board co-chair Susan Besson, who voted in favor of the amendment, said it fit with her interest in sustainability.

“I don’t think it would mean we’d have thousands of backyard hens,” Besson said. “It’s a thought-provoking thing, to get people to think about local food and markets.”

The board unanimously approved an amendment to Evanston’s Green Building Ordinance. The amended ordinance will require new construction to be LEED certified, Besson said. LEED is a nationally recognized set of standards for sustainable design in building construction.

“We felt it was a good and leadership-like, progressive thing to do,” Besson said. “We thought it would be sort of a feather in Evanston’s cap, to take the lead-no pun intended.”

– Katie Park