Wellsville OK’s permit for pest control, ponders where bees fit
February 27th, 2010 Posted in OpinionBy Kayla Woodring
WELLSVILLE–The Planning Commission held a public hearing Wednesday to issue Diana White a permit to operate a pest control business from her home.
White said she would only be using the home for the mailing and tax purposes required by her business. She said that all customer correspondence would go to the headquarters of the pest control business she contracts with. Her work involves door-to-door sales across the country, so she said would not need to see any customers at her home.
“My business is mostly done outside the state. I drive out to different locations across the country and sell in those places,” White said. “I walk from door to door.”
The commission approved her request for home business zoning at 80 E. 300 South in Wellsville. White, who is a young woman, still lives with her parents. The commission clarified that if she moved out of her parents’ home, the permit would no longer be valid
City Manager Don Hartle also sought to clarify some questions he had about zoning with the commission. Hartle said he received a call from Logan resident Casey Leishman, whose father lives in Wellsville. Leishman wanted to know if he could obtain a conditional use business permit for his father’s residence. He hoped to be able to store supplies for his asphalt striping and repair business at his father’s home.
“My question for you has to do with whether or not I should tell him that we’ll permit this,” Hartle said. “It seems to me that he doesn’t qualify for a level one home occupation permit, because he’s not an occupant of the home.
The commission agreed with Hartle.
“Since he’s a resident of Logan, we can’t give this to him,” Commission Chair Loyal Green said. “He can’t have a home occupation if he doesn’t live there. It doesn’t matter if it’s his parents’ home. It’s like we decided about the permit for White. If she moves out of her parents’ home, it becomes invalid.”
Hartle also questioned about whether or not there is a specific zoning regulation for the raising of beehives. A citizen came to him with questions about establishing a beehive in his backyard for the raising of bees and collection of honey.
“The only thing that I can think of, is that it might need to be classified as an agricultural zone,” Commissioner Jaye Colling said. “I think bee raising would qualify as agriculture.”
The commission decided to investigate the regulations to see if a specific regulation applied to the beehives. They said they had concerns that there might be regulations due to the fact that the bees could potentially be seen as a nuisance by neighbors of the beekeeper.
Green said he was excited to see bees raised in Wellsville. “I know some people over in Logan who raise bees as a hobby and they say it makes the garden look better and grow faster,” Green said.
Hartle and the commission also discussed regulations regarding commercial activity on residential property. A resident had called to ask about whether or not he could build a structure on his property to be rented out as a business office.
The commission decided that the individual would have to seek commercial zoning approval in order to rent the structure.
NW
Tags: beehives, business permits, pest control, Wellsville
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