Springdale council fails to adopt ordinance to permit backyard hens, rabbits and bees

Springdale City Council on Jan. 2 failed to adopt Ordinance 55-2024, a third-reading amendment to Section 153.252(f)(6)(c) of the Springdale Codified Ordinances that would have regulated the on-site husbandry of fowl, rabbits and bees. The vote was 4 in favor and 3 opposed; because the planning commission had recommended against the measure, a supermajority was required and the ordinance failed.

The ordinance, as read into the record, would have created a two-year, nontransferable certification for residents to keep certain animals and capped the program at 25 active certificates at any time. Under the language read aloud, the law would have permitted no more than six hens on single-family residential parcels of one-half acre or greater; chicken coops would have been limited to 30 square feet and seven feet tall, located in rear yards at least 15 feet from property lines, screened from view, and kept in sanitary condition. The packet language read also said rabbits and bees could be raised on…