The City of Mount Pearl has a human population of ~23,000 and is a bedroom community to the adjacent City of St. John's where there are no beekeeping ordinances or permits required. Beekeeping is still under the radar there, it would seem.

Here's the City of Mount Pearl's rationale for charging the exorbitant permitting fee.

"Further to your recent enquiry regarding the City’s fees for a beekeeping use in the City of Mount Pearl, and subsequent e-mails between you and Councillor Antle, please be advised that your comments were brought forward for review and discussion at the Committee of the Whole meeting of Council last evening, April 16, 2019.  The City agrees that there are important benefits of beekeeping, as evidenced by the City’s inclusion of this practice in the City’s Development Regulations, via the amendment of 2017 as noted below. 

Please be advised that Council members continue to support the following current practices/fees, with no recommendations for change:

Beekeeping as a Discretionary Use - Beekeeping was approved as a Discretionary Use within the City as per the Mount Pearl Development Regulations 2010 Amendment No. 61, 2017, and this amendment took effect on April 13, 2017.  As a Discretionary Use, an applicant must submit a general Permit Application, and a Discretionary Use Application.

Application Fee - $150 - The City’s fee of $150 is the fee that has been set in the City’s schedule of rates and fees and has been considered as appropriate to cover the average administrative costs of processing an application; including receiving the completed application, receipting and posting the fee, review of the application by a Planner in relation to the City’s Municipal Plan, Development Regulations, and other City requirements, carrying out internal/external referrals if required, additional research if required, and various other steps to follow an application through to issuance of a permit. 

Discretionary Use Fee - $200 - The City’s fee of $200 for a Discretionary Use Application is the fee that has been set in the City’s Schedule of Rates and Fees and has been considered conservative to cover the administrative costs of processing a discretionary use application.  A discretionary use requires a public consultation process, including scheduling of a public Briefing Session, which requires a mail-out of a Notice of Discretionary Use Application and Briefing Session via Canada Post, and publishing the Notice in a local newspaper.  The mailout and publishing of the Notice are required by provincial legislation.
 
Council notes that, while other municipalities may have different approaches to many aspects and types of development, the City of Mount Pearl determined its process for beekeeping, and now continues to support this approach.  I trust the information above clarifies that the fees charged are to cover the City’s costs in processing the applications, and also assists in your understanding of the City’s process and the fee structure. 

Should you wish to proceed further with any beekeeping, please contact the City’s Planning Division staff at any time if you have questions regarding a specific application or requirements as outlined in the Mount Pearl Development Regulations 2010.  The City appreciates the importance of beekeeping, and wishes you well in your undertaking.

Regards,  Jason Collins, Director of Community Development”

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