A Sweet Deal: Zoning for Honeybees

Boston’s city council will consider a zoning reform that addresses a somewhat uncommon land use issue: beekeeping.

According to Scot Lehigh, writing for the Boston Globe, a city council member introduced an ordinance that would shift beekeeping regulations from the zoning code to a municipal ordinance, lifting a ban on new beekeeping operations while continuing to regulate the practice. City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune, who introduced the ordinance, said the city’s overly complicated zoning code “make[s] it really hard for people to follow the law.”

Lehigh writes that “There are several lessons that the City Council should learn from the recent spotlight on bee regulations.” Aside from passing the beekeeping ordinance, the council should examine other rules that are too complex to be useful and work to eliminate red tape. “Indeed, whether it’s beekeeping, complicated parking rules, or installing new benches, people may often find themselves breaking the rules — not because they want to but because the rules are simply hard to understand or keep track of.”