Fremont City Council Meeting: 02/21/23 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Animal Services
Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Code Adoptions & Amendments
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 4805) DOC ID: 4805
Updated: 2/16/2023 11:15 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 1
AMENDMENT TO THE ANIMALS ORDINANCE REGARDING URBAN BEEKEEPING - Introduce Ordinance Amending Section 6.05.010, Adding Section 6.10.140 and Repealing Section 6.40.040 (ANIMALS ORDINANCE)
Contact Persons:
Name: Kelly Miott Matthew Snelson
Title: Animal Services Manager Police Captain
Div/Dept: Animal Services Police Department
Phone: (510) 790-6646 510-790-6874
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: This staff report proposes revisions to the City of Fremont’s Animal Ordinance incorporating public input intended to reduce administrative barriers to , and City of Fremont active enforcement of, activities related to beekeeping.
BACKGROUND: On October 4, 2022, the Fremont City Council adopted an Ordinance No. 10-2022 amending Fremont Municipal Code (“FMC") Sections 6.10.030, 6.10.040,
6.10.070, 6.20.010, 6.30.040, 6.40.030, and 6.50.040, and adding Sections 6.10.130,
6.40.025, and 6.40.035 to the Fremont Municipal Code. These amendments revised language in Title 6 (“Animals”) of the FMC.
The City Council considered and removed section 6.40.040 (relating to the keeping of bees) from the proposed and adopted ordinance revisions and directed staff to conduct additional public outreach regarding those sections of the FMC in order to make recommendations that further met resident interest in encouraging urban beekeeping.
Consistent with City Council direction, City staff arranged for several forms of public engagement on the topic of beekeeping regulations in the FMC. Staff initially met with community experts and advocates on November 28, 2022. Staff also conducted an open, virtual community meeting on January 18, 2023. Finally, staff sought community input via its online community engagement platform MyFremont via an open community survey conducted between January 18 and January 25, 2023.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: Staff has reviewed and synthesized the expert, advocate and general community input and has drafted new language for Council consideration. The revised recommended language reduces administrative/economic barriers to existing and potential new beekeepers and grants additional leeway in allowing for more beekeeping in a greater variety of circumstances. These changes will also have the effect of reducing the City’s enforcement authority with respect to some beekeeping related activities. City staff assesses that this reduction in enforcement authority will have minimal impact on community health and safety and, as such, has determined that the reduction is a reasonable exchange to encourage additional urban beekeeping.
Council Staff Report (ID # 4805) Meeting of February 21, 2023 Updated: 2/16/2023 11:15 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 2
Public Outreach:
The City’s outreach, both to subject matter experts and to the general public, indicates an interest in eliminating barriers to urban beekeeping and in encouraging the creation of additional beekeepers in Fremont. Members of the public generally encouraged the City to eliminate beehive permitting and restrictions. While some community members expressed concerns regarding allergies and concentration of beehives in multifamily dwellings, the overwhelming interest of the community was to reduce barriers to beekeeping. Staff’s revised proposed ordinance language addresses a majority of community input by allowing for more beekeeping activities with less administrative restriction.
Proposed Code Revisions:
The most significant elements of the newly proposed language, and differences from the language that was rejected by the City Council on October 4, 2022, are summarized as follows:
• Eliminates requirement that beekeepers obtain a permit from the City of Fremont; • Eliminates the limit on the number of beehives that an individual may maintain ; • Allows beehives on multi-family balconies or patios;
• Reduces restrictions surrounding bee-hive placement so long as 5 feet of distance from adjacent property lines is maintained;
• Simplifies and/or eliminates beekeeping procedural language; and • Reduces City staff’s role in enforcement and compliance.
This proposed FMC revision largely aligns with public interest in reducing impediments to urban beekeepers by reducing the City’s oversight and enforcement role. Specifically, the elimination of City issued permits, and accompanying inspections, limits Animal Services ability to enforce specific standards in many situations and grants more autonomy to individual beekeepers to adhere to general community standards. Staff is generally reluctant to recommend reducing its authority to enforce standards, but in this case determined that calls for service related to potential beekeeping violations are minimal.
During the last six months, Animal Services staff has received no calls related to beekeeping. The attached ordinance achieves a public interest related to beekeeping and the estimated impact on community safety and health standards is minimal.
FISCAL IMPACT: The proposed ordinance revision eliminates a permitting fee and, if approved as recommended, will reduce general fund revenues by a nominal amount. Staff anticipates that this reduction in revenue will be less than $1,000 per year and that the reduced revenue can be absorbed by the Police Department’s existing general fund budget.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The amendments to the Animal Ordinance are exempt from, and not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to, without limitation, CEQA Guidelines Sections 15378(b)(2) and/or (5), as it is an administrative governmental activity that will not cause any direct or indirect significant physical impact on the environment, and/or 15061(b)(3) in that the activity is covered by the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that the there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. The amendments to the Animal Ordinance will clearly not have a significant effect on the environment and, thus, CEQA does not apply.
Council Staff Report (ID # 4805) Meeting of February 21, 2023 Updated: 2/16/2023 11:15 PM by Susan Gauthier Page 3
ATTACHMENTS:
• 2023.02.21 - Bee Amendment to Animals Ordinance Draft Ordinance • Community Meeting Beekeeping 1-18-23
• Beekeeping MyFremont Survey Responses
RECOMMENDATION: Waive the first reading and introduce the proposed ordinance, attached as Exhibit A, amending Fremont Municipal Code Section 6.05.010, adding Section 6.10.140, and repealing Section 6.40.040.