Feeding rule pulled

A Huntington Beach city councilman on Monday withdrew a proposal that would have outlawed feeding wild animals.

Councilman Joe Carchio had proposed drafting an ordinance making it a misdemeanor to feed coyotes, foxes, opossums, raccoons or skunks. However, Carchio said he received negative feedback from residents and didn’t think he would have the support of his council members on the proposal.

“I tried, and I did what I thought was going to be a good deed ... but I’m going to withdraw the item,” he said.

HBTalk, an online discussion site, received e-mails from residents weighing in on the proposed ordinance. Many expressed disdain for making it illegal to feed the animals.

“Any fool knows not to feed a wild animal; we don’t need Joe and the nanny bunch at City Hall making the rules,” one resident wrote.

The ordinance idea wasn’t meant to ticket people, but to educate them about the dangers of feeding wild animals to both humans and animals, Carchio said.

Feeding wild animals draws them back to the neighborhoods, domesticates and makes them unable to survive on their own, he said, adding that he was also worried about diseases carried by animals.

“I guess no good deed goes unpunished,” Carchio said.

The city has been having issues with coyotes that have lost their fear of people, and the Police Department declared it a public-safety issue.

Residents have made complaints about coyotes coming into their backyards to eat their pets and are worried about their families’ safety.

Despite withdrawing the proposal, Carchio said he could bring it back at a later date with modifications, including changing wording that applied to “nondomesticated animals” to “nondomesticated mammals,” to avoid punishing those who feed birds.

Carchio also said he would change offenses from misdemeanors to infractions.

The city held a council study session in February and a community meeting in March on the issue.

The Department of Fish and Game and Orange County Animal Control joined city officials in addressing the issue.

The Huntington Beach Police Department signed a contract for $2,500 with a trapper to catch the coyotes that have lost their fear of people in the Bolsa Chica-Edinger tract.

Three coyotes have been caught to date and a fourth was hit and killed by a car, said Lt. Russell Reinhart.

The council also accepted a check from the Huntington Beach Council on Aging to help cover the costs of a senior center appeal filed in January.

The city’s plans to build a new $22-million senior center in Huntington Central Park were stopped by an Orange County Superior Court judge who found the project to be in violation of the city’s general plan, state environmental laws and a state act.

The Council on Aging presented a check for $20,000 to cover some of the costs of the appeal, wanting to see the center built as the voters approved it, said Don MacAllister, Council on Aging president.

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