Watch the explainer on YouTube Croton’s latest compromise on pigeons comes with a catch: the birds could stay, if the Zoning Board agrees, but their daily exercise releases could not. The October 22 draft would tell the board to weigh “relative harm, fairness, and hardships” when deciding whether an existing flock could remain. Yet it would give the board no discretion to permit releases for exercise or training. Fairness would be considered at the hearing; that restriction would already be decided. The offer, in other words, is to grandfather the flock while grounding its daily flying routine. For the resident at the center of the dispute, that routine is the point. He told trustees on August 19 that he releases his birds once a day for one or two hours of training. He also described keeping pigeons since childhood and the connection they preserve to his late father. Permission to keep them under the new conditions would not preserve the way he has kept them. *Meeting preview: Wednesday, October 28* Trustees are scheduled to discuss the proposal Wednesday, October 28, at 7 p.m., in the Georgianna Grant Meeting Room of the Stanley H. Kellerhouse Municipal Building. The agenda lists discussion; adoption is not listed. *Flying is part of pigeonkeeping* Daily exercise flights are an ordinary part of published care guides for racing and flying pigeons. The Royal Pigeon Racing Association’s beginner guide recommends starting with six to ten birds in a small loft, then introducing outdoor exercise once a day and later twice a day. The National Birmingham Roller Club describes flying rollers once daily as usual practice, with exceptions for illness, predators or extreme temperatures. The welfare guidance points in the same direction. Australia’s national poultry-welfare guidelines recommend daily opportunities for racing pigeons to fly. Croton’s draft would stop exercise and training releases even for a flock that successfully completes its grandfathering process. It offers a possible reprieve for the birds, but no exception for those flights. *Grandfathering would not be automatic* The proposed law would prohibit keeping fully flighted birds, expressly including pigeons, outside residential dwellings in residence districts beginning January 1, 2027. The draft’s general effective-date clause is filing with the Secretary of State. January 1 is the proposed start of the outdoor-keeping prohibition. Trustees have not adopted the law. An owner or possessor with birds when the law is enacted could apply to the Zoning Board of Appeals. A publicly noticed hearing and a written decision would follow. The board would weigh the applicant’s position and that of anyone appearing in opposition, and could approve the request, deny it or add conditions. Applying would guarantee nothing. The proposed law says that even an approval could not allow an increase in the existing flock or “flight-based exercise or training from the place of confinement.” The enclosure would also have to meet the zoning chapter’s minimum setbacks for accessory buildings. That is a change from the July 6 draft, which offered no grandfathering process. But the new escape hatch from the ban would come with a restriction on the very activity the keeper is trying to preserve. *Both petitions belong in the record* Two petition statements are part of the dispute: the petition letter dated May 29 and the Petition in Support of Responsible Pigeon Keeping in Croton. Both complete statements are reproduced with signers’ personal information removed. Croton News’ publisher helped create the petition supporting responsible pigeon keeping. *Len Simon’s role in the debate* Deputy Mayor Len Simon participated in the debate from its early stages, disclosing a nearby personal connection on May 27. At the July 1 discussion, he pressed against grandfathering. On September 2, he announced that he would recuse himself from further involvement in the animal-law proposal. He said he remained objective and wanted to remove a distraction as the board continued its work. *The health evidence* At the September 2 hearing, some neighbors sought a ban without grandfathering. Others described a well-maintained coop and favored specific, enforceable rules. Trustees deferred action, as the Village’s project page records. Routine cleanup of pigeon droppings does not pose a serious health risk for most people, according to New York City’s Health Department. The department describes pigeon-related disease as rare. The Village’s own June 20 husbandry memo cited that guidance. Additional precautions apply to large accumulations of droppings and people with weakened immune systems. The question now before trustees is what protection grandfathering would actually provide. Under this draft, a keeper could win permission to retain a flying flock and still lose permission to release it for exercise or training. *What can you do?* Read the current proposal and follow the October 28 work session, Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Georgianna Grant Meeting Room. Under the Village’s work-session rules, public comment is at the presiding officer’s discretion. You can contact the Board of Trustees with your views on the flight restriction, the grandfathering process and the birds’ welfare. To hear about future meeting dates, changes to the proposal and opportunities to respond, sign up for Croton News’ pigeon-issue action updates. The list is just for this issue, requires email confirmation and lets you unsubscribe at any time. Sign the petition on Polis. *Further reading* Read the detailed story and timeline for the dispute’s history, Len Simon’s early role and recusal, and both petition statements. Read the legal analysis for the drafting problems, ambiguities and legal questions in the current proposal.