City of Brookfield, Wisconsin to Discuss Beekeeping Ordinance on Tuesday, July 19th
Brookfield, Wisconsin (PRWEB) July 15, 2016 -- Although the lots sizes in Brookfield are much larger than those of surrounding cities that currently allow beekeeping on residential property, mayor of Brookfield, Steve Ponto, has reservations about allowing bees into his city.
In a previous statement to the press, Mayor Ponto said "We'll look at the issue and, like we have with chickens, maybe if someone has a large tract of land that wants them it's possible. But in terms of a standard half-acre lot in a subdivision, I don't see allowing for that." In June 2015, Gary Mahkorn, a city alderman, stated, "I look at what our original ordinance is and that is at least three acres of land. I don't know what in the city of Brookfield has changed to warrant us reducing that size."
Cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Milwaukee and many smaller cities in the Greater Milwaukee Area have all made a positive change to their ordinances to allow beekeeping. Bradley James, co-owner of Beepods, a Milwaukee-based beehive manufacture and beekeeping educator, says, "Chickens are a completely different ballgame altogether. Large communities all over the US are adjusting their ordinances because they want to be leaders in revolutionizing the definition of sustainable living in urban centers. Brookfield has the potential to become the only city among its surrounding neighbors to continue making beekeeping illegal. With the way that the trend in green living is going, this could be problematic."
Other Brookfield residents have voiced their concern on a petition they signed on a website called "Change.org":
“I have vegetable and flower gardens and the pollinators have greatly dwindled just in the last couple years.” ~ Debra Breckenfelder, Brookfield
“I believe we need honeybees and I fully support backyard beekeeping.” ~ Carole Kozminski, Brookfield
“Keeping bees should be allowed in Brookfield.” ~ Anthony Preman, Brookfield
“We need the bees to pollinate our our plants and crops.” ~ Daniel Stewart, Brookfield
To help the City of Brookfield make a good decision regarding continuing the discussion of beekeeping, many residents plan on attending the Tuesday, July 19th at 7:30pm meeting at the City Hall on 2000 N. Calhoun Road, Brookfield, WI 53005. This meeting is open to the public and attendees are able to speak freely within the first 15 minutes of the meeting in order to address issues. All Brookfield residents are encouraged to join the meeting and to prepare either a written statement to be emailed to the City clerk, Kelly Michaels at michaels(at)ci(dot)brookfield.wi.us and also to read their statement at the common council meeting.
More information about the beekeeping discussion can be found here: https://www.beepods.com/brookfield-wisconsin-beekeeping-ordinance/
Scott Offord, Beepods, https://beepods.com, +1 262-204-7265, [email protected]
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