SARATOGA SPRINGS -- A few months ago, it was chickens and the law. Now Saratoga Springs officials are considering drafting an ordinance on keeping domestic beehives within the city limits.

"In my 32 years of police service, I have never had to deal with beekeeping issues before," said Saratoga Springs Police Chief Gary Hicken.

The issue began when a resident complained that a beehive was located on the other side of a fence from where their children's swing set was located. Although he and City Manager Ken Leetham investigated the situation, Hicken said, "Our code is currently silent on the subject."

Hicken said at a Sept. 22 meeting that he and his code enforcement staff were asked to do some research and provide the City Council with a proposed code amendment to address the issue.

"We did some Internet research, and this is the best we could come up with," he said. "We tried to come up with something that would find a balance between those that are concerned about hives being very close to their property line and in more densely populated neighborhoods, while at the same time not eliminate them entirely from places that have more room."

The code change proposed would allow the keeping of up to three hives on a half- to full-acre property, and four hives on any larger property.

Smaller property owners, as well as those restricted by neighborhood covenant condition restrictions (CC&Rs), would be prohibited from keeping hives. Regardless of property size, all bee colonies would need to be at least 30 feet from any property line.

There also are proposed requirements for registration of colonies with the Utah Department of Agriculture as well as regulations for types of hives, maintenance and water sources.

A resident that came to speak in behalf of an ordinance said, "I have bees next door to me both in hives and in a broken down car. So I like the provisions that people actually take care of the bees."

Most of the council agreed that some guidelines were necessary.

"I think it is reasonable, probably, to put some of these requirements in place," said Mayor Timothy Parker. "But I am concerned in regards to lot size. I am not convinced yet that you can't keep bees on a quarter-acre. I would not put any limitation on agricultural property."

"I don't want to restrict bees from our city, but I do think we should put some restrictions on them," said Councilman Brent Call. "Limit the number of hives. Keep them away from fences. I don't think acreage or square footage means much to bees. I think they are too much of free spirits. They go where they choose."

In the end, the council suggested that Hicken remove the property size guideline, and bring the code back at their next work session. Mark Ellingson from the Utah Bee Keepers Association also offered to make a presentation for the council at the next work session, which was tentatively scheduled for Tuesday.