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Home My WebLink AboutPacket for PC 06-16-20 City of Carmel ONE CIVIC SQUARE CARMEL, INDIANA 46032 317/571-2417 CARMEL PLAN COMMISSION -MEMORANDUM- Date: June 5, 2020 To: Plan Commission Members From: Adrienne Keeling Re: Docket No. PZ-2020-00068 Enclosed is the information packet for the following item. If you have any questions, please call 571-2417. Docket No. PZ-2020-00068 OA: Beekeeping Standards Ordinance Amendment. The applicant seeks to amend the Unified Development Ordinance in order to establish standards and definitions for Beekeeping in residential districts. Filed by the Department of Community Services on behalf of the Carmel Plan Commission. Proposed Amendment Summary: Attached is a proposed UDO Amendment which establishes beekeeping standards as an accessory use in residential zoning districts. The Department has seen an increase in beekeeping questions and activity over recent years with no specific standards to manage the size or location of hives. Adopted standards will provide needed guidance to beekeepers, their neighbors, and city staff. An Indiana Code was enacted in 2019 to preempt cities from prohibiting beekeeping; however, it does allow cities to adopt standards regarding the number and location of beehives on properties which conform to the standards of the Apiary Inspectors of America. This proposal is based closely upon beekeeping standards which were adopted by Fishers late last year. Article 5: Development Standards: − Section 5.02: Residential Accessory Building and Use Standards • Line 38: Added Beekeeping standards to Subsection C: Accessory Uses. The standards address the following: • Number of hives based on lot size. • Maximum size of a hive. • Hive placement (ground, roof, prohibited in front yard, setback). • Mitigating actions • Swarm trap recommendation. • Barrier & identification recommendations for visible hives. To aide in review, UDO page numbers are referenced in the ordinance document. You may view the Unified Development Ordinance in its entirety online by clicking on Codes & Ordinances in the Department of Community Services’ website: www.carmeldocs.com. 06/05/2020 Ordinance Z-6XX-20, Plan Commission Draft 1 Sponsor: Councilor ___________ 1 2 ORDINANCE Z-6XX-20 3 AN ORDINANCE OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE 4 CITY OF CARMEL, INDIANA 5 ___________________________________________________ 6 An Ordinance establishing standards for beekeeping 7 in the Unified Development Ordinance. 8 9 Synopsis: 10 This ordinance amends the Unified Development Ordinance in order to establish standards for beekeeping in 11 residential districts. 12 13 WHEREAS, Indiana Code 36-1-28 preempts municipalities from adopting an ordinance that prohibits 14 a person from beekeeping on property that the person owns, rents or leases. However, a municipality may adopt 15 standards concerning the number of bee hives a person may operate and the location of bee hives on the 16 property. 17 WHEREAS, the City wishes to maintain an orderly, consistent and streamlined unified development 18 ordinance; and 19 WHEREAS, pursuant to the Advisory Planning Law of the State of Indiana (contained in IC 36-7-4), 20 each unit of local government that wishes to adopt land use and zoning ordinances must first approve by 21 resolution a comprehensive plan for the geographic area over which it has jurisdiction; and 22 WHEREAS, pursuant to Indiana Code 36-7-4-602 the Common Council is authorized to amend the 23 text of the unified development ordinance; and 24 WHEREAS, pursuant to Indiana Code 36-7-4-610 and City of Carmel Ordinance D-2391-17, the 25 Carmel Unified Development Ordinance is incorporated by reference into the Carmel City Code; 26 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Common Council of the City of Carmel, Indiana, 27 that, pursuant to IC 36-7-4-600 et seq. and after Docket No. PZ-2020-00068 OA having received a favorable 28 recommendation from the Carmel Advisory Plan Commission on Tuesday, _____________, it hereby adopts 29 this Ordinance to amend the Carmel Unified Development Ordinance (Ordinance Z-625-17, as amended), to 30 read as follows: 31 32 Section I: Amend Article 5: Development Standards as follows: 33 34 5.02 AB-01: Residential Accessory Building and Use Standards UDO Page 5-4 35 This Accessory Building and Use Standards (AB) section applies to the following zoning districts: 36 ICON: S1, S2, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 37 C. Accessory Uses: 38 9. Beekeeping: The intent of this Section is to regulate beekeeping in accordance with State Law. 39 Beekeeping for purposes of personal use and not for agricultural use shall comply with the 40 following standards: 41 a. The maximum number of hives permitted per property shall be as follows: 42 i. Two (2) hives for properties that are up to 6,000 square feet. 43 ii. Four (4) hives for properties greater than 6,000 up to 16,000 square feet. 44 iii. Six (6) hives for properties greater than 16,000 square feet up to 25,000 square feet. 45 iv. Eight (8) hives for properties greater than 25,000 square feet. 46 b. No bee colony shall be kept in a hive that exceeds 12 cubic feet. 47 06/05/2020 Ordinance Z-6XX-20, Plan Commission Draft 2 c. Bee hives may be located on the ground or on the roof of any building with a permanent 48 foundation. 49 d. Hives on the ground may not be located in the front yard. 50 e. Hives must be setback a minimum of 15 feet from any property line. 51 f. For any colony exhibiting overly defensive behavior, the beekeeper should take immediate 52 mitigating action(s). This may require a beekeeper to split a hive to keep it from swarming. 53 This split may be kept temporarily with one (1) additional hive for allowing a new queen in 54 case the parent hive fails to make a new queen or in case the parent hive fails during colder 55 weather temperature. 56 g. It is highly recommended that at least one (1) swarm trap be provided where bees are kept. 57 h. If the hives are clearly seen from sidewalks, pathways or adjacent neighbors, it is highly 58 recommended that a 6-foot tall barrier such as a fence or landscaping hedge be installed. 59 Fences shall comply with Section 5.09: Fence and Wall Standards. 60 i. If the hives cannot be concealed from sight or easy access, it is highly recommended that 61 each hive have a sticker placed on them or sign installed indicating that there are live bees 62 inside them. 63 64 65 Section III: All prior Ordinances or parts thereof inconsistent with any provision of this Ordinance are hereby 66 repealed. 67 68 Section IV: This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and signing by the Mayor. 69 70 06/05/2020 Ordinance Z-6XX-20, Plan Commission Draft 3 PASSED by the Common Council of the City of Carmel, Indiana, this ____ day of ________, 2020, by a vote of _____ ayes 71 and _____ nays. 72 73 74 COMMON COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF CARMEL 75 76 ___________________________________ 77 Laura D. Campbell, President Sue Finkam, Vice-President 78 79 80 ___________________________________ ____________________________________ 81 H. Bruce Kimball Kevin D. Rider 82 83 84 ___________________________________ ____________________________________ 85 Anthony Green Jeff Worrell 86 87 88 ___________________________________ ___________________________________ 89 Tim Hannon Miles Nelson 90 91 92 ___________________________________ 93 Adam Aasen 94 95 96 ATTEST: 97 98 __________________________________ 99 Sue Wolfgang, Clerk 100 101 102 Presented by me to the Mayor of the City of Carmel, Indiana this ____ day of _________________________ 2020, at 103 _______ __.M. 104 105 ____________________________________ 106 Sue Wolfgang, Clerk 107 108 109 Approved by me, Mayor of the City of Carmel, Indiana, this _____ day of ________________________ 2020, at _______ 110 __.M. 111 112 ____________________________________ 113 James Brainard, Mayor 114 115 116 117 ATTEST: 118 ___________________________________ 119 Sue Wolfgang, Clerk 120 121 122 123 Prepared by: 124 Adrienne Keeling, Planning Administrator, One Civic Square, Carmel, IN 46032 125