TORRANCE >> City officials have decided it’s time for a frank conversation about the birds and the bees.

The city’s Environmental Quality Commission will discuss at a Thursday meeting whether to overturn long-standing municipal bans on keeping chickens and bees in the backyards of homes. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the West Annex Commission meeting room at City Hall, 3031 Torrance Blvd.

The discussion comes as interest in so-called urban farming steadily increases, with many consumers seeking inexpensive, organic, locally grown food. The commission decided last spring to study the issue in depth.

“I’m sure there will eventually be a return to a rural kind of a feeling and people will be growing more vegetables, even on the balcony of their apartments,” said Torrance resident Sherry Roberts, a member of a group called the Los Angeles Chicken Enthusiasts that is mobilizing behind the issue.

“It’s kind of like a new age that’s coming about,” she added. “People are really becoming more familiar with food safety and healthy (food).”

But chickens, like other farm animals, are banned in Torrance as a public nuisance. And beehives are allowed only in industrially zoned areas, provided they are at least 300 feet away from homes and 100 feet away from a property line.

City staff members propose allowing people to keep egg-producing hens — but not crowing roosters — as long as they apply for what’s dubbed a special animal permit. Torrance residents may already keep pigeons and doves, although keeping more than four requires a special animal permit.

Staff members also propose allowing residents to keep up to two beehives.

Opposition to the proposal is expected.

Some residents are concerned about odor issues associated with keeping poultry. Some, allergic to bees, don’t want to see hives more prevalent in urban areas.

Commission Chairman Mike Griffiths said the panel already has heard from passionate proponents — and opponents — of the proposals,

“We are hoping that with good involvement from the community at our meeting, we can work toward a solution that would represent the best interests of our residents,” said Griffiths, who plans to run for a City Council seat next year.

Backers, who already have submitted a petition they hope illustrates the depth of community support on the issues, are hoping the commission separates the two ideas in hopes one would stand a chance of passage if significant opposition surfaces to the other.