Borough council abuzz with bees talk

New ordinance sets rules for beekeeping

A code change meant to address a buzzing pet problem could be up for a vote today.

Staff have prepared a draft beekeeping ordinance meant to add the insects to the town’s current animal codes and spell out new rules and regulations for those who keep them.

“What this will do is allow us the ability to get onto a property and ensure the specifications are met with the hive location,” said borough Building Code Official Jason Van Dame.

Starting in June 2019, resident Nancy Frei raised concerns with the town’s code committee over a swarm of bees from a neighbor near Hancock Street that appeared to be out of the control of the owners. In the subsequent months, staff contacted the neighbors in question, researched with the state’s Department of Agriculture on all applicable regulations and the Pennsylvania State Beekeepers’ Association and have developed a new draft ordinance.

As discussed by the Code committee on July 1 and contained in council’s agenda for today, the ordinance updates the current Chapter 139 of the borough codebook that governs animals and adds a new article about bees. The draft code states “it shall be unlawful to keep any bees in the borough except as provided herein” and requires any beekeeper to register it with the state, notify the borough and maintain an annual registration with the borough that includes an application showing where, how many and how far from adjacent properties their hives are.

The new code also specifies that hives must be at least 10 feet from any property line, cannot be located in any front yard, can’t be within 50 feet of a swimming pool or animal kennel and cannot be within 10 feet of any adjacent building, and sets a limit of two permitted hives for every 2,000 square feet of lot area.

In the new code, provisions also state that any owner may allow for a borough and state inspection with at least 48 hours of notice and that a nuisance complaint will prompt an inspection by the borough and state within 72 hours; among the criteria for a nuisance complaint are “multiple bees stinging, attacking, or

otherwise molesting others including pedestrians, bicyclists, motor vehicle passengers, or domestic animals.”

Frei said she still had concerns after reading the draft about who to call if a swarm occurs, and Van Dame and council President Denton Burnell said the code is written so that process begins with a call to the code department.

“One of the things we learned through this process is that a swarm, for honeybees, they’re not specifically a domestic animal, and they’re not a wild animal — the term they use is like a feral animal,” Van Dame said.

“I don’t know that we’d be able to pursue a nuisance claim against a swarm that was appropriately, reasonably collected after the fact, as it’s kind of a wild, feral animal action. And I think that’s why it’s difficult to craft an ordinance that addresses that specifically,” he said.

Trail lighting up for discussion: Van Dame also asked council for guidance regarding lighting along part of the Liberty Bell Trail, a stretch of pathway running parallel to Railroad Avenue next to the borough municipal building where Railroad meets Broad and Vine Streets.

The trail construction itself was covered by grant funding, Van Dame told council, but plans also called for the installation of six decorative light fixtures of similar styling to the borough’s downtown streetscape project.

“We looked in-house, and the borough electric department has some inventory of light poles, that could be finished up nicely and made to work in those locations,” Van Dame said.

Foundations and wiring have already been installed, and with poles already inhand, the only remaining need is for approval to buy matching fixtures, he told the committee. An early estimate is that the fixtures will cost roughly $1,300 to $1,400 each, and a quote for purchase of seven (six new and one replacement of a fixture elsewhere) has produced an estimated cost of just over $9,000, Van Dame said.

Solar work continues:

Electric superintendent Andy Krauss also gave an update on the progress, as of July 1, on the installation of a new solar panel energy system at the borough’s Ninth Street utility complex.

“They have begun, down at the wastewater plant, on the switch gear upgrade to tie everything into the solar system,” he said.

“Most of the material, probably 85 to 90 percent of the material, at the utilities complex at Ninth Street has been delivered,” Krauss said.

Deliveries began in June and that project has been planned since 2018, and is meant to partially offset electricity used by the borough by generating from solar panels at the electric and sewer complex, and a separate solar panel system to be built atop borough hall.

“We are working on that, full steam ahead. We are a little bit behind schedule, because of the shutdowns, but things are starting to ramp up again,” Krauss said.

Lansdale’s borough council next meets online at 7 p.m. on July 15; for more information visit www.Lansdale.org.