Whitehall City Council weighs legislation prohibiting feeding deer – The Columbus Dispatch

The city of Whitehall may be joining a growing number of Franklin County suburbs trying to get control of its growing deer problem.
City Council members held the first reading of proposed legislation during a special committee meeting on May 26 that would make it illegal for people to feed deer as well as other wildlife – including waterfowl and Canada geese – on private or public property within the city.
Property owners also would be responsible for removing “any device or materials placed on the owner’s property” that would violate the proposed ordinance.
The ordinance defines “feeding” or “making food available” as placing, within five feet of the ground, any fruits, grains, minerals, plants, salt licks, vegetables, seed, hay, or any other edible material that one can reasonably expect a deer or waterfowl to consume.
Council member Lori Elmore, who introduced the legislation, said the council’s Community Standards and Enforcement Committee initially brought the legislation forward sometime in 2024 but then tabled it in January 2025.
Elmore said they are bringing it forward again because the deer population in Whitehall is continuing to grow, and it poses a hazard to motorists as well as plant life and landscaping within the city. The deer are becoming reliant on non-native food sources, and their large concentration could potentially spread diseases, Elmore said.
“This ordinance promotes the health and safety of the city of Whitehall,” Elmore said during the meeting.
Whitehall City Attorney Brad Nicodemus said there was already an ordinance that prohibits feeding waterfowl, and that it made sense to fold the prohibition of feeding deer into the ordinance and make it include wildlife as a whole.
Under the ordinance, the first offense would be considered a minor misdemeanor and result in a fine up to $150. Subsequent offenses would be considered fourth-degree misdemeanors, and violators would face fines up to $250, probation or possibly jail time, Nicodemus said during the meeting.
Either the Whitehall Division of Police or a city Code Enforcement officer would be responsible for enforcing the ordinance, according to Nicodemus.
City Council members, who seemed receptive to the legislation, will hold a third and final reading and conduct a vote on the legislation on July 7.
If the ordinance passes, Whitehall would join Columbus and Worthington in efforts to handle its deer population.
Columbus City Council voted on May 12 to ban the feeding of deer in the city. Violators would be subject to a misdemeanor fine of up to $150. The ban came after the majority of Columbus residents, mainly in Clintonville, said in a survey that the city should pursue methods like culling to handle the deer population.
In Worthington, the city council hired sharpshooters to cull deer early this year. A total of 100 deer were harvested during the culling, which was conducted on participating private properties as well as two public properties. More sharpshooter culling is planned over the next several years.
Some Worthington residents pushed back on the use of sharpshooters, citing a lack of information from Worthington City Council regarding the program, including when sharpshooters would be targeting deer and in what parts of the city.
A Worthington resident and attorney filed a lawsuit against the city to stop sharpshooters from shooting deer near his home, but the lawsuit was dropped in January with no explanation.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky. 

source