Huntley officials want to make beekeeping cheaper and easier for hobbyists, but aren’t OK with allowing it on smaller lots.

Following a resident’s inquiry, the Village Board recently discussed whether beekeeping should be allowed in all residential areas if certain criteria are met.

Current Huntley zoning code allows for beekeeping in residential estate districts with a special use permit. The lot size minimums are 20,000 square feet to 40,000 square feet in those districts.

The board did not vote on anything, but trustees indicated they generally wanted to limit beekeeping to those larger lots. Some felt smaller lots would not be conducive to bees and could create issues for nearby neighbors.

Currently, the permit process requires a public hearing at the plan commission and public notice. It also requires Village Board approval and comes with a $500 permit fee and $3,000 escrow to cover legal notices and attorney’s fees.

Some trustees felt the cost was too high for beekeepers.

“For hobbyists, that amount is unrealistic,” Trustee Ric Zydorowicz said.

Trustee JR Westberg said the fees were “crazy” and if he was a hobbyist, he would be discouraged. But he said he was fine with a notification to the village from beekeepers that they are doing it and paying a $50 fee.

But officials wanted to take a step back and try to find some regulations that work for all parties.

Trustee Vito Benigno said any proposed regulations needed to address both beekeepers’ and neighboring residents’ concerns.

“I think that it’s very important that whatever regulations we come up with, that they’re grounded in research that shows why that particular regulation will work or why that particular regulation applies to this particular instance,” Benigno said.

However, the board was more divided on whether to allow beekeeping on vacant lots, with some members against it and others were open to it or wanted to allow it with regulations.

Several members of the public, all of whom live in the same subdivision, weighed in on the topic.

Dan Keippel said he has been beekeeping for eight years and said he has never had an issue with the bees. He said he is slightly allergic to bees but can stand by his hives without issues.

He said beekeeping is a passion for him and he has never sold a drop of honey. Rather, he gives the honey to his neighbors and isn’t trying to be difficult. He said he has no issue following rules or paying a permit fee each year, but wants beekeepers involved in making the rules.

“We’re not a farm. We’re a hobbyist. That’s all we do,” Keippel said.

Michelle Diversey said she has bees on a vacant lot, and is in her fourth year beekeeping. She said she went to the village before starting and asked what the rules were. She said she was told if it was a hobby, it was fine.

She said she took classes at McHenry County College, as Keippel did. Interest in beekeeping and in beekeeping classes has grown in recent years in the county.

Diversey said she found out she was allergic and she wears protective gear in the hive. She said she mows the grass without protective gear and they don’t bother her.

“I would never want to harm anybody,” Diversey said.

She said the permit fee structure is geared to commercial uses, not residential uses and wants an ordinance to clarify that. But Diversey said she will comply with the rules that are put in place.

“I just want to be a beekeeper,” Diversey said.

Resident Tony Chirchirillo is neighbors with the beekeepers but said he has no ill will toward them. He said he likes bees and thinks they benefit nature in general but does want to see regulations on beekeeping.

He said the bees are close to a bus stop and a couple of kids had been stung, “but it’s not horrible.”

However, he said every time the weather is warmer than 45 degrees, hundreds of bees swarm.

“We can’t even use our pool in the summertime sometimes because the bees are so bad,” he said.

He added at the meeting the bees are already out and his dog was stung on April 7.

Leslie Chirchirillo said the pool is where family and friends hang out. She said she felt the family should be able to use the pool whenever they want.

“My kids should feel safe, and we currently don’t. And so that is our, our biggest issue,” she said.

She also wanted regulations, including ones on how far beehives can be from a house with a pool.

“We like bees. We’re not against them, but I just don’t want them in my pool,” she said. She added it wasn’t fair that every time the bees swarm, she is cleaning out bees from the pool.

Charlie Nordman, Huntley director of development services, said Woodstock and Lake in the Hills ban beekeeping in residential areas, adding Algonquin allows beekeeping but it is not addressed in the village code.

McHenry, Crystal Lake and Elgin allow beekeeping but it’s subject to specific criteria, Nordman said.

Any proposed changes to Huntley’s bee ordinance would need to come back to the Village Board for final approval.