Reno, NV Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

Beekeeping enters Reno's code through the use categories in § 18.09.301. The Agriculture, Animals, and Farming category names beekeeping among its agricultural uses, and the Urban Farm use is defined as the growing, raising, keeping, producing, and selling of agricultural, horticultural, viticultural, fruit and vegetable products, including bees and up to 12 fowl.

Table 3-1 marks Urban Farm with an M in every district column, from LLR2-.5 through UT-40. No district allows it by right and none prohibits it. Under § 18.03.201(b), an M means a minor conditional use permit under § 18.08.604. The designation does not guarantee approval: each application is judged on the findings in § 18.08.604(e), and an applicant can elect to process it as a full conditional use permit instead.

Section 18.03.304(a)(4) requires the minor conditional use permit for any urban farming operation intended to be established beyond three years. A shorter operation falls under the temporary use standards in § 18.03.503(h): the operator registers as a temporary principal use, files a site plan, runs the farm for three years, and then needs the permit to continue. Temporary urban farms are exempt from residential adjacency requirements. The permit application outlines the layout, site access and circulation, and any structures.

The permanent standards are specific. The Administrator must find that ingress, egress, and parking are sufficient before any vehicle uses the site. Every structure is accessory to the farm, with minimum five-foot side and rear setbacks and the front setback of the underlying zoning, all covered by one accessory structure permit. No accessory structure can exceed 12 feet in height or 120 square feet without a building permit, and none can be occupied by the general public without one. Dead plant material must be removed promptly or screened by a solid permitted fence, and farm equipment must be screened or stored in an enclosed structure. Signs follow Chapter 18.05. Only products grown on site can be sold, and all operations, sales included, are limited to 6:00 a.m. to sunset.