Commissioners OK zoning changes

Jay County Commissioners approved changes to the county zoning ordinance Monday - including additional confined feeding rules - following recommendations from the Jay County Planning Commission.

The commissioners approved recommendations from the planning commission's meeting Thursday, including changes to lagoon setbacks, the addition of the Town of Pennville to the zoning ordinance, new requirements for small wind turbines and changes to commercial wind farm rules.

The commissioners and planning commission responded to concerns from locals about issues surrounding large animal waste lagoons and their proximity to water sources. Those concerns were spawned due to rumors of a large heifer operation potentially locating near the Adams County line and close to the Wabash River.

The new regulation increases lagoon setbacks from flood plains based on size of the lagoon - up to 1,800 feet for a lagoon 15 million gallons or larger.

Although members of the planning commission said the changes were not being made to address any specific situation, the topic of large lagoons was raised in connection with a proposed large dairy operation east of U.S. 27 near the Jay-Adams county line.

The changes to the residential wind turbine section call for a setback 1.1 times the height of the turbine, while development fees of $20,000 and $2,500 per turbine were adopted for commercial wind turbine projects.

In other business Monday, the commissioners:

•Appointed Don Reef, New Corydon, to the Jay County Regional Sewer District.

•Approved installation of wiring for a stove in the Meridian Street courthouse annex for Jay County Extension. The stove will be used for home economics demonstrations.[[In-content Ad]]