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Ms. Amos said yes. <br />Commissioner Balch offered another clarification that there is no limit to the number of <br />hives in a general area, such that if there are ten single - family detached homes in an <br />R -1 area, each would be allowed two hives if the conditions are met; there would be no <br />restriction that only a certain number of hives would be allowed within, say, a five -mile <br />radius. <br />Ms. Amos replied that was correct; there would not be that restriction at this time <br />Mr. Weinstein added that based on research, staff does not anticipate a big surge of <br />beekeeping applications as there are entry barriers to beekeeping: it is somewhat <br />expensive and could take up to $1,000 to assemble the equipment, and not everybody <br />wants bees in his /her backyard. He added that other cities that staff looked at that offer <br />beekeeping have not experienced vast surges of interest in beekeeping. <br />Commissioner Balch clarified further that the beekeeper has to be the resident or <br />basically the person living in the home. He inquired if a person who is just starting out <br />and trying to learn and may not own the equipment be in compliance with that provision. <br />Ms. Amos said yes. <br />Commissioner Nagler inquired if, based on other cities' experiences, staff has any idea <br />or any way of anticipating the number of applicants who would come and how much <br />staffing resource it might require. He pointed out that Pleasanton does an excellent job <br />of limiting the amount of staff that the City spends money on to the point that staff work <br />incredibly hard, and he wanted to make sure that the City has the staff to properly <br />process an ordinance which sounds completely reasonable and appropriate and <br />contributory to the City. <br />Ms. Amos replied that based on communications with other jurisdictions, staff does not <br />anticipate that there is going to be a massive surge of applications. She added that <br />Mark Dennis, the City's Senior Code Enforcement Officer, has researched this and <br />indicated that there is at least one resident who is very excited to be able to apply for an <br />application for beekeeping. She noted that this is a straight - forward application, very <br />similar to processes already established within the Planning Division; it is not very <br />labor- intensive and can be managed on staff time. She added that the Animal Services <br />Officer had some experience in going through this process while working for the City of <br />Fremont and stated that there are not a lot of concerns: she goes in, inspects to make <br />sure the applicant meets the performance standards, and then leaves. <br />Commissioner O'Connor inquired if Code Enforcement would be monitoring this in the <br />same manner as is done today in that inspection would not be proactive but as a <br />response to a complaint. <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, January 28, 2015 Page 5 of 17 <br />