Politics & Government

Port Council Takes Sweet Time with Beekeeping Law

Aldermen, bee experts discuss the necessary components of an ordinance that covers all the bases when allowing beekeeping in the city.

The Port Washington Common Council introduced an ordinance Tuesday night to allow beekeeping within city limits, a move sparked by a Bethel and Mike Metz.

The ordinance, highly modeled off laws recently passed in Milwaukee and Evanston, IL, would require residents to obtain training and to have annual inspections of their hives as well as pay for a license from the city before becoming beekeepers.

"I feel like we're in the middle," Bethel Metz said about the law's progress. "You celebrate every little victory (and) I'm encouraged by the openness here. (The ordinance) rivals a lot of communities' final ordinances."Β 

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That's because city officials are working to make sure they cover all the bases in drafting this ordinance, which is something that Charlie Koenen, who teaches beekeeping skills at the Urban Ecology Center, and other beekeeping experts are playing a vital role in.

"It's really a well-written first draft," Koenen said, adding he's helped orchestrate similar ordinances in 28 other communities, "and this one was the best I've seen first out of the gate."

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The Metzs brought about 25,000 honey bees to their home in the 100 block of East Van Buren Street in July after taking beekeeping classes with Koenen at the Urban Ecology Center in Riverside Park earlier this year. After a complaint surfaced with city officials, the couple was told to . A chas been ongoing since a mid-October council meeting.

Koenen said the end goal would be to draft an ordinance that other communities would look to when writing their own laws.

"What we're trying to do is get the one that nails everything right β€” I mean, there's cities all over the country that are looking for this," he said.

The ordinance would also require people interested in beekeeping to contact neighbors within a certain radius of their property to seek approval. Koenen suggested that approval be required from 7 to 8 out of 10 neighbors to avoid one spiteful neighbor taking control over residents' abilities to keep bees.

Beekeepers would be required to have annual inspections of their hives, a service that is provided free by a state-employed beehive inspector, and also to renew their licenses with the city on an annual basis. Koenen recommended that the application fee, however, be a one-time payment when first seeking a license, and that it be a relatively low amount.

"You want to know where those hives are, (and) we don't want to people discouraged by a high fee," he said.

Because the introduction of this law was meant to update the council on its progress, the ordinance will still have to appear on the council's agenda for a first and second reading, and will have to be approved before it will be legal to keep bees in the city. Council members were unsure if the ordinance could be polished up in time for the next meeting, which will be at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 3 at .

In the meantime, the Metzes' beehive remains in the clear of being removed from the city until they are given the chance to follow whatever guidelines end up in place for beekeepers within the city.


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