If residents notice a new buzz around Parker in the coming weeks, they can thank a recently adopted town ordinance clearing the way for backyard bees.

The Town Council unanimously adopted the guidelines at a Sept. 21 meeting. The ordinance, which officially takes effect on Sunday, puts forth the first official rules for residents seeking to keep their own beehives, a practice that was formerly outlawed in Parker, town officials say.

It allows anyone who owns a parcel of land that is 5,000 square feet or larger to keep bees. The larger the parcel, the more colonies property owners will be allowed to keep. A 5,000-square-foot parcel is allowed to have one or two colonies. Quarter-acre parcels can have as many four colonies. The scale continues to grow, until it reaches properties that are 35 acres in size or larger. Properties that size can host an unlimited number of bee colonies provided they are at least 250 feet from the property line.

Numerous Front Range communities allow urban beekeeping, and for those who support it, the benefits are obvious and multiple.

“If someone is a gardener, keeping bees is very beneficial for pollination,” said Diane Roth, chairwoman of Parker’s Cultural and Scientific Commissionand wife of an avid beekeeper. “And you can have your own supply of raw honey. It has all kinds of healthy properties.”

Roth and her fellow commissioners were a driving force in getting the town to consider a beekeeping ordinance. Beekeeping had previously been banned in Parker under a portion of the town code banning wild, exotic and dangerous animals as they were considered venomous, according to police officials.

Roth, who lives on a large property in southern Parker with her husband, Jeff, said people have been and continue to keep bees in town, likely because the law against them was not well known. She and her husband keep seven colonies on more than 25 acres. The Cultural and Scientific Commission previously kept colonies under a special initiative known as the Thunder Bee program, but when that went away, members agreed to approach the town about welcoming urban beekeeping.

“The town’s community development department really sort of took over the whole process and developed the ordinance that went in front of Town Council,” Roth said, crediting local officials’ hard work. “Then the beekeeping community got involved and provided public testimony. Their voices were instrumental in asking the town to make changes to the ordinance to eliminate some of the requirements.”

Among the requirements that were axed from the ordinance before it was passed was a rule requiring beekeepers to construct a solid fence as a flyway barrier around the hives, directing bees upward and away from neighboring properties. Roth noted some experienced beekeepers explained bushes and plants can be used and a fence requirement was onerous. Town staff also halved a rule mandating colonies be set back at least 10 feet from neighboring parcels, settling on 5-foot setbacks.

“We didn’t want to be Big Brother and intrude on people — we just wanted to set some guidelines,” Officer Dawn Cashman with the Parker Police Department said of the ordinance this week. “This isn’t too restrictive, I don’t think.”

Cashman, who herself kept a bee colony in the police department’s community garden and has a hive at her home outside of Parker, worked with the community development department on the rules and enforcement. The town decided against forcing beekeepers to register their colonies. As long as they operate within the rules in the ordinance, they should not expect any issue with the police animal control unit, Cashman said.

“Our animal control officer aren’t expert beekeepers, but they can refer to these guidelines and know if people are doing it right,” Cashman said, adding that in her 10 years with the department no one has ever called to report an issue with a backyard bee colony.

When it comes to its Douglas County neighbors, Parker’s ordinance is close to Castle Rock’s rules for backyard beekeeping. That town’s code allows for up to two colonies on any piece of platted land and mandates a 5-foot setback from neighboring parcels. Parker’s neighbor to the west, Lone Tree, does not allow beekeeping in residentially zoned areas.

Bryce Matthews, Parker’s comprehensive planning manager, said the town staff looked at policies in neighboring communities but made sure to be responsive to local desires as well.

“We worked with the cultural department, Diane, and police department,” Matthews said. “They provided input on it and that’s how we came to a beekeeping ordinance that is basically based on best practices and responds to local needs.”

Joe Rubino: 303-954-2953, jrubino@denverpost.com or @RubinoJC