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Senate committee hears bill to let residents in planned communities garden and keep hens; beekeeping debated
Summary
Senate Bill 59 would void HOA or covenant restrictions that bar gardening, hen keeping or beekeeping where the municipality allows those uses; supporters framed it as property-rights and food access, while HOA representatives warned of safety, sanitation and governance concerns. The committee held public testimony but took no vote.
Madam Chair Pham opened a public hearing on Senate Bill 59 on Feb. 10, 2025, which would make void and unenforceable any provision in a planned community’s governing documents that prohibits or restricts gardening, hen keeping or beekeeping where the municipality already allows those activities.
The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Cedric Hayden, said the measure mirrors municipal models that allow small-scale hen keeping and regulated beekeeping and argued it would let homeowners in planned communities exercise the same practices as other city residents. “If you live in a municipality that allows this, your homeowner association would have to adopt those rules,” Hayden said, adding that HOAs may “stack their own regulations on top of it.”
Supporters and opponents framed the issue as a balance between expanding access to food production and preserving locally chosen HOA rules. David Mauck, chair of the Charbonneau Country Club Civic Affairs Committee, and other Charbonneau residents said their senior-centered, densely populated community faces unique safety and sanitation risks from beekeeping and hen keeping. “In the summer with concerts, golfers … our population actually doubles. That’s a lot of targets for bees,” Mauck said, describing concerns about stings and potential anaphylactic reactions among older residents.
Joe Bruguette, vice chair of Charbonneau’s architectural committee, said Charbonneau already governs gardening, and that residents rely on established HOA rules when they chose to live there. “I chose to live in a community that was governed by a set of guidelines that seemed to be fair and reasonable,” he said.
Contract lobbyist Greg Leo and others representing Charbonneau told the committee the bill would preempt locally elected HOA boards and urged preserving local decision-making. Leo said gardening is allowed behind fences at Charbonneau but that hens and bees are prohibited there for public-health reasons. Several Charbonneau witnesses emphasized the community’s scale — roughly 477 acres and about 3,000 residents across 13 HOAs — and described frequent public gatherings and golfing activity as factors that increase exposure.
Opponents from the property-management sector urged caution about applying the bill to small-unit planned communities. Ashley Yura, a partner at VF Law LLP who represents HOAs, said the bill would apply to associations covered by the Planned Community Act and cautioned it would create problems in townhouse-style developments with little outdoor space. Katie Anderson, chair of the Oregon Community Association Legislative Action Committee, said the bill’s language would “void and render the provisions currently in the governing documents unenforceable” rather than tying HOA rules to municipal ordinances, and she urged a case-by-case approach.
Hayden and several senators discussed possible amendments, including removing bees from the bill; Hayden said he was open to amendments. Committee members questioned whether HOAs could already change their rules by internal vote and whether state action is appropriate to override private covenants. No vote was taken; the committee closed the public hearing and moved to the next bill.
Votes at this hearing: none — committee held public hearing only and did not take formal action on Senate Bill 59.
