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Parks and Environmental Commission Regular Meeting Minutes <br />March 4, 2024 <br />Page 4 <br />1 Mr. Sonterre requested the Commission discuss and provide feedback for staff for the <br />2 following questions: <br />3 <br />4 Does the Commission have any comments and/or recommendations on the draft <br />5 ordinance? <br />6 Would the Commission wish to conduct community engagement around the proposed <br />7 ordinance? <br />8 <br />9 Next steps will have Staff integrating the Commission’s feedback into the draft ordinance and <br />10 move it on to the Planning Commission for a future public hearing and comments for <br />11 recommendation to the City Council. <br />12 <br />13 Commissioner Guest asked how many cities in the area have beekeeping ordinances? Mr. <br />14 Sonterre stated it appears the majority do but he did not research every City. Are there any <br />15 barriers to passing these ordinances and Mr. Sonterre stated there are no barriers and no <br />16 opposition. The number of licenses granted in cities is very small. <br />17 <br />18 Commissioner Holiday asked if a different word for “grandfathering” could be used and Mr. <br />19 Sonterre stated “compliance” and “non-compliance” will be used. Commissioner Holiday <br />20 asked which bordering cities have bee-keeping ordinances and Mr. Sonterre stated Roseville, <br />21 Fridley, Coon Rapids, Mounds View, New Brighton, Minneapolis and St. Paul. Commissioner <br />22 Holiday asked if the current City Code prohibits the keeping of bees along with the farm <br />23 animal ordinance. Commissioner Holiday suggested some sort of public notice be shown on <br />24 the property to advise visitors. He asked about allergies and does that protection go to <br />25 businesses. Mr. Sonterre stated within 100 feet of the property line. Commissioner Holiday <br />26 asked if May 31st is the appropriate renewal date given the life cycle of bees. Mr. Sonterre <br />27 kept it consistent with licenses expiring on the same day. Commissioner Holiday stated that <br />28 may not be an appropriate day concerning bees. Commissioner Holiday asked if 15 feet is the <br />29 appropriate minimum distance from a property line and what is the dispersion of bees. Mr. <br />30 Sonterre stated the 15 feet is greater by 5 feet than any of the other instances. Ms. Helgen <br />31 explained the dispersion of bees from the entry and the foraging radius is 2 miles. He asked if <br />32 the number of licenses should be limited since St. Anthony is a smaller community. Ms. <br />33 Helgen stated a beekeeper cannot control the area of foraging for the bees. If there were too <br />34 many beekeepers it would not be profitable and keepers would stop doing it. <br />35 <br />36 Commissioner Bakke asked what would be estimated as to the number of beekeepers within <br />37 the City. Mr. Sonterre stated Falcon Heights passed their ordinance a year ago and they only <br />38 have one beekeeper in the City. <br />39 <br />40 Chair Fee asked about the beekeeping course and is there a list of approved courses. Ms. <br />41 Helgen stated there is one with the U of M and Mr. Sonterre has a list of other courses. Chair <br />42 Fee asked if 30 feet between buildings and is that enough. Mr. Sonterre stated that varies <br />43 within the City. The 30 feet from a residential structure should be very easy to maintain. Ms. <br />44 Helgen explained about water sources necessary. Chair Fee asked if items #6 and #9 aren’t the <br />45 same in requirements. Ms. Helgen stated that pertains to not leaving frames sitting out for <br />46 other bees to steal from. She also explained storage requirements.