SOLANA BEACH — The City Council provided initial feedback last week for the creation of new city regulations that would allow more residents to keep backyard chickens and beehives.
City code currently permits chickens in the city’s estate residential and low residential zones on properties of at least 20,000 square feet. Each property can have a maximum of 25 chickens, with 2,000 square feet of space required for each chicken.
Bee boxes, apiaries, and other maintained beehives are currently not allowed in the city’s code.
On June 10, city staff recommended code updates to make urban agriculture activities more accessible to residents. Over the years, several residents have advocated for the city to expand access to chickens in particular, due to the benefits they provide, such as fresh, affordable eggs, fertilizer for gardening, and composting food scraps.
Several council members said they are aware of residents illegally keeping chickens outside the allowed zones or keeping beehives, and said they would support loosening the current regulations.
“I personally get a lot of input on people wanting to do this … I’m certainly supportive in trying to expand and allow chicken coops in the neighborhoods,” said Councilmember Dave Zito.
Mayor Lesa Heebner said her husband maintains three beehives on their property that are technically illegal. She said that, in addition to being a fulfilling hobby, beekeeping supports the pollination of local plants and can provide residents with honey.
“[For] My husband, who is retired, this has provided an unbelievably wonderful hobby for him to learn about bees,” Heebner said. “It’s a great hobby for a lot of seniors. We’re a monarch butterfly-friendly city, and we are a pollinator city, and so I think this helps.”
Solana Beach staff referenced regulations for beekeeping and chickens in other cities such as Encinitas, Oceanside, El Cajon, and San Diego. Based on the feedback shared by the council, formal code updates will be brought before the council in the coming months
When it comes to chickens, city staff recommended expanding current regulations to allow them in low-medium density residential zones, which would open them up to many more areas of the city.
“Adding these zones would impact all of the Santa streets, areas around Glenmont, North Granados, Seabright, and properties accessed from Fresca Street and Via Mil Cumbres,” said Associate Planner Tiffany Wade.
The majority of the council supported expanding to at least low-medium residential zones. Zito said he would also be open to allowing them in medium residential areas.
“By excluding medium residential, we wipe out all of Eden Gardens, so nobody in Eden Gardens can have a chicken coop,” Zito said.
The council also discussed regulations for coop sizes, coop maintenance, and flock sizes. El Cajon and Encinitas each allow a maximum of 10 chickens per home, Oceanside allows six, and San Diego allows between five and 25, depending on the distance of the coop from other structures.
Solana Beach council members discussed setting a maximum of 1o chickens, which City Manager Alyssa Muto said should be more than enough for most properties.
Wade also said the city could set a minimum number of three or four chickens to ensure a healthy flock.
“Chickens are social animals with social hierarchies, and it’s unlikely a single chicken would thrive,” she said.
Unlike Solana Beach, other cities require a minimum amount of space per chicken rather than a minimum total lot size, staff said.
Staff recommended requiring 10 square feet of total space per chicken, including the combined coop and outdoor space, which is consistent with the cities of San Diego and Oceanside.
The current city code also requires coops to be at least 35 feet from adjacent buildings. Staff said the code could be changed to set minimum setbacks or another minimum distance.
Most coops could be permitted under the city’s accessory structure code, which would not require a building permit, staff said. Coops are also required to be predator-proofed, regularly cleaned, well-ventilated, and to provide adequate nesting structures.
Councilmember Jill MacDonald shared concerns about disturbances to other neighbors caused by chickens and bees.
She said that while some lots may appear large, especially in the estate residential zones, the usable areas where someone could actually have a coop or apiary are much smaller, partially due to steep slopes, canyons, and sensitive habitat areas.
“I’m not a fan of the idea of letting everyone have chicken coops on those lots, or apiaries, without much further study of how this would be done and how the neighbors would approve of it and not just discover that there are 15 chickens living within sight of their bedroom windows,” she said.
For residents who want to keep chickens or bees, council members said it would be beneficial to require them to obtain sign-off from neighboring property owners, depending on the size of their lot.
“Perhaps on the smaller lots, maybe you get neighbors to sign off on bees and chickens,” said Councilmember Jewel Edson.
Staff also noted that individual HOAs could still prohibit chickens or bees even if they become permitted under the new regulations.
City code currently allows residents to have “chickens and other small fowl.” Heebner said she would like to limit it to “chickens and fowl smaller than chickens” in order to prevent residents from having ducks, but allow them to still have quails and miniature breeds of chickens.
Roosters would not be permitted.
For apiaries, staff recommended allowing them in estate residential, low residential, and medium-low residential zones.
Wade said the city can follow San Diego County’s best management practices for beekeeping. These standards require hives to be placed 25 feet from the road and property lines, 35 feet from neighbors’ dwellings, and 150 feet from sensitive sites.
State law also requires beekeepers to register their hives with the local agricultural commission. Only docile bee species would be allowed.
Staff said the city would also require that hives be in a secure area, surrounded by a six-foot-tall barrier, and located near a water source. Hives would require a new queen to be introduced every two years.
Beekeeping rules vary in other jurisdictions. Encinitas has some of the most permissive regulations, allowing up to two hives with no required minimum distance from other buildings or the public right-of-way.
Carlsbad does not set a cap on the number of hives, but does require a minimum distance of 150 feet from residences and buildings. San Diego allows three or more hives as long as they are 600 feet from a building and 100 feet from a public right of way.
City staff recommended capping the number of beehives at two, but Heebner requested that the city allow three, provided the lot has sufficient space.
