Last night, Livonia City Council’s Public Safety and Health committee held its first hearing on the deer population of Livonia. Livonia council committee meetings are not recorded or streamed. The topic was first sent to committee in late 2019 based on numerous resident concerns, but hearings were delayed due to the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Kathleen McIntyre, chair of the committee, opened up the meeting with a presentation of research commissioned by Southeastern Council of Governments (SEMCOG), a consortium representing over 180 cities. The research surveyed 13,000 residents across the region last year to evaluate perception of the deer population in Oakland County. Farmington Hills was included as one of the cities surveyed. Chair McIntyre explained the applicability of Farmington Hills survey data to the city of Livonia due to its proximity and similar geography. SEMCOG relied on surveys to conduct this research due to the technical infeasibility of using more objective measures to track deer population growth, such as tag and releasing. A plurality of residents across all age groups perceived a significant increase in the deer population. 27% of residents surveyed thought the deer population was a nuisance. Residents mainly cited damage to landscaping, disease, and automotive accidents as the leading reasons as their main concerns. The survey also found that nearly 20% of those surveyed had an automobile accident involving deer.

The committee meeting also featured a presentation from the mayor’s office to provide more focused view of deer population in the city of Livonia. Livonia Police Department traffic department provided a view on traffic incidents involving deer from the last two calendar years. In 2022, the traffic bureau responded to more than 200 calls related to deer invasion. This year, the traffic bureau is expected to respond to the same number of calls. The mayor’s office also provided results of an informal-virtual survey conducted a late last year on the topic of deer population management. Approximately half of those surveyed indicated the deer population had risen to the level necessary to be culling.

The committee ended with two motions – joining the Urban Deer Coalition – a consortium of municipalities dedicated to managing deer population and a motion to send the topic of deer population management to Committee of the Whole. It is expected that a Committee of the Whole hearing will also feature input from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Both motions are expected to be actioned on at the next Livonia City Council Regular meeting on July 10. Vote.Run.Serve-Livonia will provide coverage of that meeting.