{"id":267315,"date":"2026-08-18T04:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T04:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/267315\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T04:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T04:38:08","slug":"reading-to-consider-ordinance-that-would-allow-beekeeping-in-all-zoning-districts-reading-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/267315\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading to consider ordinance that would allow beekeeping in all zoning districts | Reading Area"},"content":{"rendered":"

READING, Pa. \u2013 Reading City Council on Monday held a required public hearing of a proposed zoning amendment which will add regulations for honeybee apiaries and permit them in all zoning districts, providing they are compliant with the Pennsylvania Bee Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Planning Director Simon Wangolo said the planning staff has been discussing a beekeeping ordinance since 2024 to determine if it is viable in the city of Reading.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis ordinance was going between various departments who were reviewing it, with the planning commission recommending it to City Council,” Wangolo said.<\/p>\n

Bethany Ayers Fisher, the city\u2019s sustainability manager, said the city does have some active apiaries, but they tend to be on large or commercial lots.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n \"City
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Reading City Council President Donna Reed says when it comes to keeping bees in the city, there needs to be some regulation.<\/p>\n

However, she added that there are also residential bee aviaries, but the city doesn\u2019t necessarily know where they are.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this kind of ordinance coming around, it is an opportunity to give our residents a chance where they can be able to interact with the agricultural aspect of their everyday life,\u201d Ayers Fisher said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The regulations in the proposed ordinance<\/a> (see page 10) include:<\/p>\n

Beekeepers must first register a permit for apiaries with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, followed by a city zoning permit.<\/p>\n

Existing beekeepers who own pre-existing apiaries shall have six months to apply for a zoning permit.<\/p>\n

Hives may not be located in a front yard and are not permitted within 10 feet of any buildings on adjacent properties.<\/p>\n

Hives may not be located within 50 feet of a permitted swimming pool or a permitted kennel\/animal shelter.<\/p>\n

A maximum of two hives will be permitted on a minimum of 2,000 square feet of lot area.<\/p>\n

For a property with less than 2,000 square feet, a beekeeper will be permitted to keep one hive on the condition consent is given from all adjacent property owners.<\/p>\n

Cathy Curran-Myers, a member of the city\u2019s Environmental Advisory Council, said the ordinance is a good neighbor solution to having city gardens well pollinated and visited by honeybees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe EAC does support this,\u201d Curran-Myers said. \u201cThe city has 15 or more community gardens that need these kinds of pollinators. So, this would be a real benefit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Home occupation zoning permits<\/p>\n

Also, as part of the public hearing, council was presented with a zoning amendment to require a fee of $150 for both major and minor home occupation zoning permits.<\/p>\n

Both currently require a zoning permit, but the fee is waived for minor home occupations.<\/p>\n

No members of the public made any comments on the proposed zoning amendments.<\/p>\n

Council solicitor Michael Gombar said council will be asked to adopt both zoning amendments at the voting meeting on either Aug. 24 or Sept. 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"READING, Pa. \u2013 Reading City Council on Monday held a required public hearing of a proposed zoning amendment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[112748,39872,43514,112747,2999,1093,10671,128,1095,130,129,87213],"class_list":["post-267315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-bee-apiaries","tag-beekeeping","tag-bethany-ayers-fisher","tag-cathy-curran-myers","tag-environmental-advisory-council","tag-michael-gombar","tag-pennsylvania-department-of-agriculture","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-council","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-simon-wangolo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}