Santee, CA Animal Ordinances: Beekeeping (2026)

Table 13.10.030A lists apiaries under 'C. Agricultural Uses (on Lots of Two and One-Half Acres or More)' and marks the use permitted (P) in the HL, R-1, R-1A, R-2, R-7 and R-14 districts, with a dash in R-30 where agricultural uses on that scale don't apply. Because the two-and-one-half-acre threshold sits on top of the zoning table, most standard single-family lots in Santee's R-1A and R-2 tracts are too small to qualify, even though the use is technically permitted in those zone categories. Where a lot does meet the acreage minimum, Section 13.10.030(F)(1)(a)(i) sets the operative standard: every hive or box housing bees has to sit at least 400 feet from any street, road or highway, any public school, park, or property boundary, and from any dwelling or place of human habitation other than the one occupied by the apiary's own owner or caretaker.

The section also requires a water source on-site for the bees, a detail the code calls out separately from the setback rule. The same subsection F.1 permits accessory retail sale of products raised on the property, but expressly excludes retail nursery operations and the sale of animals for commercial purposes from that allowance. There's no numeric cap on hive count in the text; the 400-foot buffer functions as the practical limit, since it pushes the use toward large, isolated parcels rather than typical subdivision lots.