Hi Matt,

Good to hear from you, thanks for the plug!

Congrats on the ordinance! :-)   Too bad about the exorbitant fee.  :-(

There's always something the politcos can throw at you.  My town (actually,
it's a village) passed a Round Lake Right to Farm Law, the intent of which
was to protect the rights of those who have been farming for years from the
concerns of new neighbors moving in or building near (as developement
encroaches) the extant farms.  I sat on the village board at the time the
law was passed and when they were defining the activities to be protected, I
had inserted into the list "Apiculture".  So Round Lake has on the books a
law protecting beekeepers' rights.  However, when a new resident had
problems with and filed a complaint about my bees, the Village did an end
run around their own law by hitting my with "Running a Commercial Business
in a Residential Zone".  It cost me $500 legal fees to reach a compromise
allowing me to run my business provided there were no active colonies within
Village limits.

My legal council advised that there would have to be an ajudcatory hearing
to decide if the Right to Farm law would stand, he seemed to think it would
not, and estimated it would cost around $2000 to roll the dice.  I moved my
bees and am now very careful to keep my activities as "underground" as
possible.

So if it's not one thing it's another.  Victorys are always hard fought,
sometimes hollow, and most times expensive.

Good luck in the continued struggle!

Aaron M orris - thinking Lawyers and Politicians, the varroa (blood suckers)
of society!