Pontiac, MI Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

Section 18-8, Beekeeping restricted, is a single flat distance rule with no accompanying licensing, registration or hive-density scheme elsewhere in Chapter 18: no person may own or keep any beehive with live bees within 200 feet of any public street or any building erected within the city limits. The 200-foot measurement runs from both the street and from any building, so a hive must clear both distances simultaneously, a standard that leaves few parcels in the city's built-up neighborhoods with room to comply. The section, carried over from § 6-9 of the 1985 Code and last amended by Ordinance No.

2396 on July 12, 2022, sets out no exemption for hobbyist or commercial apiaries and no variance procedure. Enforcement of Chapter 18, including § 18-8, runs through the Pontiac Police Department under § 18-2, with Oakland County Animal Control providing citywide animal-control services at no charge under the 1919 State Dog Law, Public Act 339. Because § 18-8 states no penalty of its own, the Code's general penalty clause, § 1-25, governs: violators face a fine of up to $500.00, imprisonment for up to 90 days in the city or county jail, or both, at the court's discretion, with § 1-25(b) setting a repeat-offense floor of at least $500.00 and/or 90 days for a second conviction of the same violation.