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with. She added that she would also like to see a little more benchmarking in neighboring cities <br />such as in Livermore and what their implications and learnings are, so Pleasanton can craft the <br />right design and understand where to go with it. <br />Chair O'Connor stated that he got a lot of information from the way the document was laid out. <br />He acknowledged Commissioner Allen's questions and noted that some cities have certain lot <br />size requirements and others do not. He pointed out that Mr. Browne mentioned that some <br />have beehives in apartments, and he indicated that his first thought when he read through this <br />was that it would not be allowed in a high- density or multi - family environment, as it would be <br />difficult to know how to control them. <br />Chair O'Connor stated that he would like to see what these other cities are doing to correct <br />some of the things that they did not anticipate. He noted that if all the data in the document are <br />current, there obviously is a very large discrepancy between cities in terms of what they allow, <br />their sizes, and where they are permitted. He added that he would also want to know what staff <br />thinks about noticing and whether this would be a Conditional Use Permit. He indicated that <br />there should be some kind of noticing requirement because there may be a neighbor who is <br />allergic to beestings, and the City would certainly not want to do anything that would jeopardize <br />the health and safety of the community. <br />Commissioner Ritter stated that he has heard that local honey is a positive for beekeeping and <br />that putting locally grown honey in food can make allergies go away. He indicated that he does <br />not know what that really entails and would like to know the positives of beekeeping as he does <br />have allergies. <br />Commissioner Balch stated that he realizes that the survey was from the City of Laguna Beach <br />and not Pleasanton. He indicated that he would like to know what lessons were learned and <br />what Pleasanton can gain from that year of experience. He noted that the document shows <br />different factors used to evaluate, such as direction, how restrictive, lot size, and number of <br />beehives. He added that Pleasanton should definitely not recreate the wheel when it can look <br />into what other cities have had, and then modify them accordingly. <br />Commissioner Balch also pointed out that the number of years of implementation should also be <br />considered, such that a recent implementation might not necessarily be a good data source, <br />versus one with a much longer experience. He indicated that he does not what it to be one of <br />those things where everyone makes a big fuss in the beginning, but once implemented, would <br />not be a big deal. He stated that he strongly feels that this is something the City should <br />consider. <br />Chair O'Connor asked staff if they have enough information <br />Ms. Amos said yes. She stated that this is a good starting point for staff to look into, including <br />some of the questions that were raised. <br />Commissioner Balch inquired how this would move from here and if there were a timeline or <br />some sort of road map. <br />Ms. Amos replied that whatever information staff has gathered tonight will definitely be added to <br />what staff is already looking into, including what other cities have in effect, what they are doing, <br />and how they process. She indicated that some cities handle it through different divisions and <br />departments, as opposed to Planning or Community Development. She added that staff is <br />evaluating what is similar to the characteristics of Pleasanton, look into what these other cities <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, October 8, 2014 Page 6 of 7 <br />