Title
Municipal Community Beekeeping Apiary
History
Staff are seeking Village Board direction to implement and choose a suitable site within the Village initially as pilot municipal community beekeeping apiary. The proposed program would create a controlled location where qualified participants may maintain honeybee hives under Village-issued permits and defined safety, insurance maintenance, and nuisance-control requirements.
Village regulations currently do not provide a clear framework for managed beekeeping. The accompanying draft text amendment would establish definitions and regulations for apiaries, beekeepers, colonies, hives, and related equipment; prohibit beekeeping elsewhere in the Village, and allow it only as an accessory use within a publicly owned community garden in the Open Spaces District.
A community apiary can support pollinator habitat; prairie and garden plantings, environmental education, and community engagement while providing residents who cannot maintain hives at home with a designated and regulated location. Centralizing activity also allows the Village to establish setbacks, fencing, screening, training, insurance, inspection, swarm response, and removal procedures.
Proposed Pilot Program
-Begin with four to eight active hives in total; with no permit holder maintaining more than two hives unless approved by the Village.
-Limit the pilot to a publicly owned community garden within a Village Open Space District.
-Require annual Village permits and annual Illinois Department of Agriculture hive registration.
-Require evidence of beekeeping education, a signed application and hold harmless/ indemnity agreement and provides a $1 million liability umbrella policy with the Village of Orland Park, its officials, employees & agents named as additional insured on a Primary & Non- Contributory basis.
Require participants to provide and maintain their hives, bees, equipment, water source, inspection records, sanitation, and swarm-respons...
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