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MEMORANDUM To:St. Anthony Village Planning Commission From:Stephen Grittman, City Planner Date:Planning Commission Meeting – May 21, 2024 GC Project No.140.00 Request:Beekeeping – Zoning Ordinance Amendments Property Address: NA Property PID:NA PROJECT DESCRIPTION The proposed Ordinance amendment has been generated by the Parks and Environmental Commission (PEC) to allow beekeeping in St. Anthony. If adopted, beekeeping would be allowed by license as a waiver from what is currently a prohibition on “farm animals”. The license would be subject to a set of regulations that are designed to ensure that such licensees are thoroughly trained to responsibly keep and maintain bees on their residential property. The existing City Code provisions relevant to “farm animals” prohibit them in the City, with the allowance that the City Council may approve specific requests, waiving the usual prohibition. This waiver has been primarily utilized for chickens in the past. There are no specific requirements for the keeping of chickens, however, staff and the Council routinely add requirements to ensure that chicken facilities are installed and managed to minimize neighborhood concerns. For bees, the waiver process would still exist, however, extensive requirements for bees are proposed. Beekeeping operations can be difficult for potential beekeepers to successfully and safely implement in residential environments, and the requirements in the attached ordinance are intended to address those issues. BACKGROUND AND REVIEW The PEC reviewed the ordinance contents with Code Staff at their March, 2024 meeting. A copy of the staff report is included with this report for Planning Commission background. The updated ordinance in this packet reflects staff’s updates based on the PEC’s comments and questioning, as well as three additional modifications related to (F) License Term; (G) Allergy issues; and (I) Location.