Holladay tweaks then OKs bee ordinance

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Holladay • City Council members have voted unanimously for an ordinance regulating recreational beekeeping within Holladay's boundaries.

The ordinance was revised Thursday after a resident expressed concerns at a public meeting in late May that the first draft didn't account for the neighbors of beekeepers. After that discussion, the council added a nuisance clause and required neighbors to inform nearby houses of their backyard beehives.

Resident Scott Davis is happy with the latest version and thanked the council for their "responsiveness" in listening to feedback.

The ordinance requires keepers to have a nearby water source and, depending on lot size, follow guidelines for property setbacks.

The final ordinance gives keepers a "reasonable amount of time" to correct issues that may arise instead of the previously proposed five-day period.

For clarity, Councilman Lynn Pace also reworded portions. One change specifies that the water source needs to be located on the parcel. Another revision made clear that if bees had to be removed from a residence, the first step would be to relocate the hives rather than destroy them, as the previous draft alluded.

Holladay Mayor Robert Dahle said the ordinance is meant to keep relationships between neighbors "courteous."

"More people are taking up beekeeping as a hobby," he said, "and so we just wanted to get out front of the issue."