Portsmouth, VA Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

Sec. 2-216, the citywide Use Table, marks Apiculture (Beekeeping) with a "P" for permitted, by-right use across every one of the city's 19 zoning districts, from the Neighborhood Residential (NR) and General Residential (GR) districts through the mixed-use and industrial districts, all six Downtown D1 sub-districts, the Historic districts, Commercial (C), and Waterfront (WF). Unlike most other animal-related accessory uses in Sec. 2-216 carries no entry in the "Additional Requirements" column, so the Zoning Ordinance imposes no citywide numeric hive count, setback, or fencing standard specific to beekeeping.

Sec. 2-215 also confirms the city's general policy favoring small-scale food production at home: the URBAN AGRICULTURE (ACCESSORY USE) definition, which otherwise excludes "livestock or other animals" from being raised as an accessory use, expressly carves out "an exception of backyard chickens and bees," placing beekeeping in the same protected category as backyard poultry. Because Apiculture is permitted outright rather than by special exception, a Portsmouth resident does not need a Use Permit, variance, or public hearing to keep hives on a residential, commercial, or industrial lot; the only zoning-level requirement is that the activity remains what Sec. 2-215 calls "managing honey producing bee colonies" rather than a separate commercial use.