DATE: January 12, 2016
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Director of Development Services
SUBJECT
Title
Proposed amendments to the City of Hayward Livestock Regulations, including establishment of a revised, simplified permit process for the keeping of bees, hens, and other small animals in residential areas; and Establishment of Proposed New Fees to reduce the cost for processing of permits for such uses.
End
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
That City Council adopts the attached two resolutions making findings to support the proposed text amendments (Attachment I) and approving related new fees (Attachment II); and introduces the attached ordinances to approve the proposed amendments to Hayward Municipal Code (HMC) Sections 10-1.215, 10-1.315, 10-1.2735.e, and 10-1.3500 (Attachments III through VI).
Body
SUMMARY
In response to City Council direction and in line with General Plan policies that encourage access to healthy foods, the City is updating its livestock regulations in order to reflect established best practices for the management of small livestock in urban environments, in order to encourage the keeping of hens/domestic fowl, small livestock and bees in residential areas.
Specifically, the proposed revisions:
* redefine the keeping of four or fewer hens, ducks, pigeons, or other small fowl as household pets, changing the permit requirement from an Administrative Use Permit to a Zoning Conformance Permit;
* redefine Potbelly Pigs as Household Pets instead of Livestock, in keeping with longstanding city policy;
* revise zoning regulations to allow apiaries (beekeeping) as a secondary use in the Single-Family Residential (RS) and Residential Natural Preservation (RNP) Districts, pursuant to approval of a Zoning Conformance Permit;
* modify certain minimum setback and performance standards to allow more properties to keep chickens and bees;
* provide additional flexibility for ...
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