City hall favours backyard beekeeping, seeks public’s feedback

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/10/2017 (2980 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City hall will hold public hearings next week on backyard beekeeping after the administration gave the greenlight to the initiative.

Following consultation with stakeholder groups over the summer, the administration is proposing small-scale beekeeping be considered a permitted use everywhere — meaning new start-ups can happen without informing neighbours ahead of time and without requiring a hearing where neighbours could object — but would require operators to take out a permit.

“We have a report in front of us,” said Coun. John Orlikow, chairman of the property and development committee. “Now, we’ll have a chance at a public hearing and people can weigh in.”

The hearing on the proposal will occur during the committee’s Tuesday meeting, likely sometime in the morning. Individuals who want to make a presentation are required to register before the start of the meeting.

The hearing will help the committee, and ultimately council, gauge public support for the administration’s recommendations or whether hobby beekeeping should be tightly regulated.

Currently, hobby or small-scale beekeeping is only allowed in the downtown area. Commercial apiaries are a conditional use, through a public hearing process, in industrial and agricultural areas on the city’s fringe.

In an administrative report to Tuesday’s meeting, the administration said the summer’s public consultations included online surveys and interviews with the public at The Forks and at shopping centres.

“The Public Service observed overwhelming support for expanded urban beekeeping at each venue,” the report states.

If approved, the administration is also recommending automatic, 90-metre buffer zones around all beekeeping operations for adult mosquito fogging.

The administration says options for beekeeping operation could include:

– Permitted use in all neighbourhoods, which would still require a permit and staff review to ensure the proposal complies with size and fencing requirements.

– Permitted uses only in non-residential neighbourhoods.

– Make beekeeping a conditional use, which would require public notice, a public hearing for each application, and an appeal process.

“Council wants to hear what the public has to say,” Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) said. “People who are supportive or opposed, or have questions, will all equally have the opportunity to come forward at a public hearing.”

The proposal marks a complete reversal for the city on urban beekeeping. As late as 2013, a civic committee had banned hobby beekeeping in Winnipeg. Then, following lobbying for local beekeepers, council in January 2016 allowed small-scale beekeeping in the downtown area.

Then in March 2016 the planning committee instructed staff to reconsider beekeeping city-wide, which led to a series of meeting with local stakeholders and some public consultations.

In a cross-jurisdictional review, the administration found that only Winnipeg and Ottawa-Gatineau prohibit urban beekeeping through zoning. In most Canadian cities, backyard beekeeping is either permitted or not even regulated by the municipality.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca