July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
New CAFO regs move ahead
Jay County Planning Commission
The Jay County Planning Commission tightened confined livestock feeding regulations Thursday, though one board member thinks those rules need to go further.
The commission approved a recommendation from county commissioners to increase setback requirements for animal waste lagoons from flood plains - a move intended to protect county waterways in case of spills during a flood.
The board passed the setbacks with a dissenting vote from member Gerald Kirby.
"It was simply a protest vote," Kirby said after the meeting, stating he had no problems with the proposal, but believes the commission needs to take additional steps to improve enforcement on the county level.
The recommendation for approval will go to commissioners, who initiated the proposed changes several weeks ago.
The public on hand Thursday, including recent proponents of tighter regulations Tom Young and Carter Leonard, were quiet during the open hearing portion of the meeting, leaving the decision to the board without additional comment.
"As commissioners, we looked at what we thought was a reasonable distance," said board president Jim Zimmerman, who also serves as one of the county commissioners who drafted the recommendation. "We weren't targeting any one area."
Concerns about concentrated animal feeding operations have been drummed up in recent weeks due to whisperings of new operation near the Adams County line. The potential 6,200 head heifer CAFO would be owned by Rooijakkers Dairy LLC., which has obtained an Indiana Department of Environmental Management permit but has not made any application on the local level.
Residents were concerned that the owners would install a 19-million gallon lagoon about 500 feet from a tributary to the Wabash River.
Although serving as the impetus for the changes, the company name and the specific site were not mentioned during the meeting's discussion and Zimmerman stated the changes were not being made "for this particular situation" but for flood plains across the county to improve safety.
"I'm concerned that we may be leaving the door open for these larger operations," said board member Shane Houck, who expressed some concern that the changes likely wouldn't deter a large CAFO from locating in the county. "The outside money sees an easier place to come into here."
Zimmerman responded that zoning can help control placement, but couldn't effectively regulate management of a CAFO. The commissioners have also tried to avoid making any moves that would flatly block new CAFOs due to legal counsel advising that such moves would likely be struck down in court.
Kirby, however, felt the commission could and should do more to watch over confined feeding.
"The bad operation is bad for all of us," he said prior to the vote. "We have no way to control ... it does what we have done for years and that's boot the can a couple feet down the road. We need a mechanism here in the county to work with the good operations and work to correct the bad operations.
"What this does is good, but it falls short," he said.
Board member and extension director John Knipp disagreed, saying CAFOs are already heavily regulated and that it is smaller operations, not the large ones, that are more likely to commit violations because surveillance is less.
"That's a fact," he said.
"We may be kicking it down the road. I think we need to give it one more kick and run this through," said Jay/Portland building and planning director Bill Milligan, promoting a wait-and-see approach on how the new regulation affect future operations.
"There's always room for improvement," said attorney Bill Hinkle. "I would agree this is a step in the right direction. ... This is a start."
The board, minus Kirby, voted to approve the setbacks and the addition of a definition of flood plains into the zoning ordinance.
In other business Wednesday night, the planning commission:
•Approved a zoning change from agriculture to commercial for Dustan Howell, who plans to purchase cars at auction and restore them. In order to obtain a permit to purchase directly at auction, his property must be zoned commercial. Howell's property is located at 3958 East 300 North, Portland.
•Added a section to the zoning ordinance regarding small, privately owned wind energy conversion systems. The board amended the setback requirement from adjacent property lines to 1.1 times the height of the turbine.
•Approved changes to the commercial wind turbine section of the zoning ordinance, including adjust permitting and development fees. A development fee of $20,000 and a $2,500 per-turbine fee was recommended for inclusion in the county's zoning ordinance.
•Approved addition of Article 8, zoning regulations for the Town of Pennville, to the zoning ordinance.[[In-content Ad]]
The commission approved a recommendation from county commissioners to increase setback requirements for animal waste lagoons from flood plains - a move intended to protect county waterways in case of spills during a flood.
The board passed the setbacks with a dissenting vote from member Gerald Kirby.
"It was simply a protest vote," Kirby said after the meeting, stating he had no problems with the proposal, but believes the commission needs to take additional steps to improve enforcement on the county level.
The recommendation for approval will go to commissioners, who initiated the proposed changes several weeks ago.
The public on hand Thursday, including recent proponents of tighter regulations Tom Young and Carter Leonard, were quiet during the open hearing portion of the meeting, leaving the decision to the board without additional comment.
"As commissioners, we looked at what we thought was a reasonable distance," said board president Jim Zimmerman, who also serves as one of the county commissioners who drafted the recommendation. "We weren't targeting any one area."
Concerns about concentrated animal feeding operations have been drummed up in recent weeks due to whisperings of new operation near the Adams County line. The potential 6,200 head heifer CAFO would be owned by Rooijakkers Dairy LLC., which has obtained an Indiana Department of Environmental Management permit but has not made any application on the local level.
Residents were concerned that the owners would install a 19-million gallon lagoon about 500 feet from a tributary to the Wabash River.
Although serving as the impetus for the changes, the company name and the specific site were not mentioned during the meeting's discussion and Zimmerman stated the changes were not being made "for this particular situation" but for flood plains across the county to improve safety.
"I'm concerned that we may be leaving the door open for these larger operations," said board member Shane Houck, who expressed some concern that the changes likely wouldn't deter a large CAFO from locating in the county. "The outside money sees an easier place to come into here."
Zimmerman responded that zoning can help control placement, but couldn't effectively regulate management of a CAFO. The commissioners have also tried to avoid making any moves that would flatly block new CAFOs due to legal counsel advising that such moves would likely be struck down in court.
Kirby, however, felt the commission could and should do more to watch over confined feeding.
"The bad operation is bad for all of us," he said prior to the vote. "We have no way to control ... it does what we have done for years and that's boot the can a couple feet down the road. We need a mechanism here in the county to work with the good operations and work to correct the bad operations.
"What this does is good, but it falls short," he said.
Board member and extension director John Knipp disagreed, saying CAFOs are already heavily regulated and that it is smaller operations, not the large ones, that are more likely to commit violations because surveillance is less.
"That's a fact," he said.
"We may be kicking it down the road. I think we need to give it one more kick and run this through," said Jay/Portland building and planning director Bill Milligan, promoting a wait-and-see approach on how the new regulation affect future operations.
"There's always room for improvement," said attorney Bill Hinkle. "I would agree this is a step in the right direction. ... This is a start."
The board, minus Kirby, voted to approve the setbacks and the addition of a definition of flood plains into the zoning ordinance.
In other business Wednesday night, the planning commission:
•Approved a zoning change from agriculture to commercial for Dustan Howell, who plans to purchase cars at auction and restore them. In order to obtain a permit to purchase directly at auction, his property must be zoned commercial. Howell's property is located at 3958 East 300 North, Portland.
•Added a section to the zoning ordinance regarding small, privately owned wind energy conversion systems. The board amended the setback requirement from adjacent property lines to 1.1 times the height of the turbine.
•Approved changes to the commercial wind turbine section of the zoning ordinance, including adjust permitting and development fees. A development fee of $20,000 and a $2,500 per-turbine fee was recommended for inclusion in the county's zoning ordinance.
•Approved addition of Article 8, zoning regulations for the Town of Pennville, to the zoning ordinance.[[In-content Ad]]
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