Chicken, bee amendment approved by planning commission

Prior Lake American

A proposed amendment allowing Prior Lake residents to raise chickens or tend bees with certain limitations cleared a hurdle on Monday with the Planning Commission's 4-1 recommendation for approval.

Several planning commission members said they were initially hesitant to recommend approval to the Prior Lake City Council but came around after research from staff and presentations from experts.

"I have to say I'm kind of proud that Prior Lake is joining the small but growing number of communities who are being thoughtful about this very topic," Commissioner Bryan Fleming said. "I think the text amendments are very, very strong and very, very good."

Commission member William Kallberg dissented, saying he had reservations about how the amendment would be enforced despite the presentations.

"If we can't enforce an ordinance, we don't have an ordinance," Kallberg said. "I can't come to grips with having four chickens in your backyard. How do you dispose of them? ... Where do you take an old, non egg-laying hen when you're done with it?"

City staff began researching the proposed amendment changes after a resident spoke at an Oct. 15 council meeting about keeping bees and chickens in city limits. Minneapolis, St. Paul, Savage, Shakopee, Jordan and Burnsville have ordinances permitting keeping chickens with limitations, such as the number of chickens.

The planning commission held a public hearing regarding the amendment changes at the end of November 2018. Several residents spoke in favor of the changes, while others expressed concern about the potential for disease or allergies.

"Teaching our children to grow gardens and have chickens and have bees and teach them the educational components of caring for these animals and providing food for yourself is incredibly beneficial," resident Kelly Cichosz said at the meeting.

The planning commission reviewed the proposed changes again at a work session in December, where the commission received presentations from two University of Minnesota experts.

Abby Neu, a poultry educator, said chickens can bring a few health risks, such as flu or salmonella, but the risk is small. Researcher Gary Reuter said most people aren't allergic to bee stings and even those who are allergic have been around bees without incident.

For chickens, the proposed ordinance changes would:

• Ban roosters

• Allow one coop, run and exercise yard per lot

• Ban chickens from being kept in homes barring when chickens are brooding

• Limit areas for where chickens can be kept to those zoned agricultural, rural subdivision or low-density residential use

• Require chickens be confined in a coop, run or exercise yard

• Ban slaughtering of chickens

• Limit the number of chickens per low-density residential unit lot to four hens

• Require owners clean confinements and limit odor from the chickens.

For bees, they would:

• Limit the amount of maximum colonies, which can contain 20,000 to 30,000 bees, to two

• Limit hives to backyards

• Restrict areas for where bees can be kept to those zoned agricultural, rural subdivision or low-density residential use

• Require beekeepers address aggressive behavior such as swarming by re-queening the hive from a European stock bred for gentleness

• Require hives be kept 50 feet from a residential structure.

The City Council is set to vote on the text amendment at its Feb. 4 meeting.