Proposed changes to the city ordinance dealing with the keeping of agricultural animals on city properties has agitated bee and chicken keepers.

Burgh Bees, a 375-member nonprofit, has put out a "call to action" via e-mail for attendance at a public hearing before the city planning commission at 2 p.m. Feb. 16 "to show how many beekeepers and beekeeper supporters there are" in the city. The hearing is at 200 Ross St., Downtown.

Legal wording currently is confusing and leaves room for abuse of privilege, city officials have said. But bee and chicken raisers say the proposed changes could create unintended ill-effects.

The hearing is the public's chance to offer input, said Joanna Doven, spokeswoman for Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

"We support urban farms and groups like Burgh Bees," she said, "but we have to make sure we are balancing their interests with the safety needs and concerns of other residents.

"There has been a disconnect between what is and isn't allowed, so we need an ordinance that clearly outlines how we should proceed."

Under current law, residents must get a variance to raise chickens on properties of less than 5 acres or if their lots don't allow 200 feet between the coop and a property line, but it's vague as to whether a five-animal limit means pets are included. In addition, enforcement is driven by complaints.

A proposed 15-foot setback from any property line and 2,500-square-foot minimum per hive would in effect ban beekeeping in many of the city's dense neighborhoods, "where our members have been safely keeping bees for years," said Meredith Grelli, founder and director of Burgh Bees.

Furthermore, she said, people's efforts to comply with the 15-foot setback, especially in dense areas, could lead to bad beekeeping.

"Bees require sun exposure; in a small yard that affects the beekeepers' ability to put the hive in the best place for the bees."

She said that the city is making no allowances within the 15-foot rule for rooftop beekeeping, "and that is one of our requests. People have been keeping them for a long time safely and without anyone knowing. We're not asking for anything that hasn't been done in places all over the country."

Jana Thompson, a bee and chicken keeper on a 2,500 square-foot lot in the Central North Side, said she may be able to keep one beehive instead of the several now on her roof, but her square footage "means I won't be able to keep chickens," she said.

The new minimum would be 3,000 to keep any chickens -- three at most -- and 4,000 to keep four.

Not everyone feels constricted. Produce growers who currently cannot sell vegetables and fruit grown on lots of fewer than 5 acres may do so with the new wording.

"This is a huge victory for us," said Julie Pezzino, executive director of Grow Pittsburgh, "because we have been trying to promote urban farming for years."

Ms. Pezzino said the planning department's proposal is ultimately a way to support urban agriculture by giving city residents legal guidance.

"I think this was more of an effort to codify than to restrict," she said, adding that she hopes to be part of an effort to refine the language so that as many people as possible won't have to give up valuable hobbies.

Ms. Grelli said many of Burgh Bees members in the North Side, Bloomfield, Squirrel Hill, Lawrenceville, Troy Hill, South Side and Highland Park would not be able to meet the 15-foot setback for beehives.

Burgh Bees has proposed wording to make the setback rules be more flexible. "Some other cities have taken a more holistic, flexible approach," she said.

"In Seattle and Milwaukee, if you are within 15 feet of a property line, you have to be on a rooftop or have a barrier to make the bees fly upward."

"We need bees in the city if we want to have vegetable gardens and a healthy urban environment," said Ms. Grelli.

"The number of beekeepers has dropped over the past few decades by half. We should do everything in our power to encourage responsible beekeeping."

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