Dispute over beehives: beekeepers want to convince judges with types of honey
Created: 01/15/2023 21:49
By: Stefan Aigner
Building tycoon Martin Schmack (right) and his lawyer Thomas Troidl wanted to appeal to the administrative court in Regensburg for understanding of bee observation.
© Stefan Aigner
Another chapter was added to the history of the dispute between the Schmack brothers and the city of Regensburg.
Regensburg – The disputes between the property developer brothers Martin and Ferdinand Schmack and the city of Regensburg are manifold.
It's about a 400,000-ton mountain in the east of the city.
To a Bauwiesiedlung right next door.
And currently in court also about a bee house.
Dispute over apiary: Developer Schmack was already the master of 99 colonies
For eight years, Martin Schmack has been arguing with the offices of the Regensburg city administration about the construction of a bee observation station.
Before the administrative court in Regensburg, he describes himself as a passionate beekeeper.
At the age of eight, he was introduced to the art of beekeeping by his grandfather on his parents' farm in the Kelheim district.
Two years later he was already master of 99 colonies, he says.
But today, a good 40 years later, times have gotten worse for the bee.
Varroa mites, monocultures and more sprays on the fields make life difficult for the insect.
People with a passion for beekeeping have become fewer and fewer.
"Actually, we don't have bees dying, but beekeepers," says Schmack.
Property developer before the administrative court in Regensburg: "You have to learn to read the bee"
For ten years now, the entrepreneur and a few fellow campaigners have been testing beekeeping near residential areas on his area in the east of the city.
With success, as he says.
The bees always found food on the nearby shepherd's meadow.
More and more robust species are being added.
And he has already achieved the "fabulous yield" of 150 kilos of honey per colony.
His conclusion: You have to bring beekeeping and bees closer to people again.
More people would have to learn to "read the bee" and be "close to the hive".
This is how the idea for a bee observation station with a porch and a tower came about, which is to be built on the Schäferwiese.
Bee observation station in Regensburg: A dispute has been going on for almost eight years
And here there has been a dispute with the city of Regensburg for almost eight years.
Schmack's first request to the building regulations office of the city of Regensburg dates back to December 2015. At that time, he was informed that something like this was basically possible.
But he had to submit a planning application.
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The entrepreneur did that in May 2016 – and then started the construction work without permission.
During an inspection in June 2016, the building authorities found that the bottom floor of the bee tower had already been completed, as well as a covered and paved area for the bee boxes and some natural stone walls.
A construction freeze was ordered without further ado.
Three years later - after a lot of correspondence, discussions and attempts to reach an agreement - the city finally rejected the building application in August 2019.
The project cannot be approved and the parts of the building that have already been erected must be removed quickly, it said, under threat of a fine of 10,000 euros.
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Apiary lawsuit: judges unconvinced
Schmack complained about this and now they met at the administrative court in Regensburg, where Schmack spoke in detail about his relationship to bees and presented the judges with different types of honey.
But neither the representatives of the city nor the second chamber of the administrative court could be convinced of this.
The main argument of the city: The area is in the outer area and would therefore only be eligible for approval if it is an agricultural project or one that can only be realized in the outer area and is really necessary.
Dispute over apiary in Regensburg: judges advise compromise
A representative of the city admits that it is "very honorable and important" to stand up for bees.
But does it actually need a basement with 35 square meters, a storage room that is almost as large and a training room with over 40 square meters?
Does it need a lantern, a wrap-around porch?
Shouldn't you get an expert opinion first?
And what about the parking spaces, the sewer connection and the other development?
There are similar questions on the bench.
The description of the project in the planning application is not specific enough.
"It doesn't all fit together." Perhaps we could agree on submitting a new, more specific and at the same time slimmed-down building application.
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"Leave the bees in the village"
Schmack's lawyer Thomas Troidl thinks that you can "leave the bees in the village".
The Gleisdreieck is actually exactly the right spot for the project.
Yes, maybe one or the other thing in the building application would have to be changed, but the city could have pointed this out in the three years that the building project was discussed, instead of Schmack now in a "hop or top situation " bring to.
After a short break in negotiations and a phone call to Armin Froschhammer, head of the building regulations office, agreement was finally reached.
Schmack agrees to withdraw the planning application and to declare the process closed.
He wants to submit a new application by June 30th.
In return, the building regulations office pledges to refrain from executing the disposal order until a decision is made on this new application – for the sake of the bees.
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