A public hearing was held for a proposal to possibly allow hunting within Jefferson city limits.

City Administrator Scott Peterson says a resident, Dan Pauley, approached the city about enrolling his 70-acre parcel into an Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Habitat and Access Program (IHAP), of which 20 acres is within city limits. He points out that this program would allow the DNR to manage the land, with the understanding that public hunting would be included. 

Peterson explains that if this were to be a choice the city council wanted to pursue, it would require an amendment to the city’s ordinance, due to there being a prohibition on discharging firearms within city limits. He notes that part of the process is the requirement of a public hearing, which was held last week as information gathering for the council. Peterson details what happened and what happens next.

“End result was that we had a very nice cordial exchange of input from many people and the council then just took that input and took it under advisement. There was never any action planned. It was always just intended to take input. But really next steps on that are still to work with the council about their desired direction and whether there would be any consideration of an ordinance at all, still kind of up in the air about that as far as what next steps are.”  

The people that spoke during the hearing included seven individuals that were largely neighboring property owners that were against an ordinance change with concerns including safety risks, allowing for more people to leave garbage and causing property values to drop, among other things. Pauley was the one person who spoke in favor and included that the closest property to his land is 450 feet and that similar cities have allowed for public hunting within their city limits. 

Peterson adds that if there are people that have questions or need more information about this topic that they can stop into City Hall and speak with him during normal business hours.