July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Request for variance turned down (10/19/07)
Jay County Board of Zoning Appeals
By By TRAVIS MINNEAR-
The Jay County Board of Zoning Appeals on Thursday denied an Amish man's request for a variance in setback requirements for a planned 296-head calf barn in Jackson Township.
BZA chairman Dennis Rodgers, Steve Fennig and Steve Ritchie formed the necessary quorum and made the unanimous ruling. Member Carl Walker was not in attendance. There also is one vacant position on the board.
Chris J. Neuenschwander asked the board for a 775-foot variance on the barn he wants to build at 6614 North 550 West, Bryant.
The 60-acre property is owned by James M. Hilty, same address.
If built in the proposed location, the calf operation would be well shy of the mandatory distance requirement of 1,250 feet from an existing school. The Amish school building, located on the property and owned by Hilty, stands 475 feet from where Neuenschwander wanted to locate the calf barn.
Board members pointed to a section of the county's zoning ordinance governing setbacks for confined feeding operations that says: "All structures and confined lots designed to house or contain livestock" shall meet outlined distance requirements.
This portion of the ordinance does not mention numerical requirements for livestock populations at local facilities, said Bill Milligan, director of Jay/Port-land Building and Planning.
Another section of the ordinance contains stipulations for operations to be classified as "confined feeding facilities." It says if a livestock operation has 300 cattle in a confined location, it must meet setback requirements. The proposed 296 calves would not require the building to meet setbacks, according to this stipulation in the county ordinance.
But BZA members said another of the barn's features classifies it as a "confined feeding facility," under local law. Board members said a manure pit that would be located under the calf barn means it meets an additional requirement to fall under the definition.
"(Animal population standards are) not necessarily the (only) criteria for the local ordinance," Rodgers said in an interview this morning.
BZA members also questioned Hilty about the number of hogs in an existing building on the property, and the proposed number of animals for the new building. The numbers - 580 hogs and 296 calves in the two barns - are just under the threshold for the county's current definition of confined feeding facility, 600 and 300, respectively.
Hilty eventually said he was unsure the exact number of pigs in the existing barn.
Neuenschwander said he intends to follow the law and would drop the number of calves in the proposed barn to 250 if necessary.
"We're not trying to push the limit," Neuenschwander said, adding that if the variance received approval he would allow officials to count his livestock.
A proposal that would effectively eliminate a numbers definition for confined feeding facilities is currently pending before the Jay County Planning Commission.
The proposal, which would make any livestock operation not feeding by grazing subject to setback and other provisions in the county zoning ordinance, was sent back to the planning commission by Jay County Commissioners.
The barn could be built in a different part of the property to meet setbacks, the board said. But Neuenschwander told its members doing so would cause substantial inconvenience.
He also said the operation would not fall under oversight of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management because the facility will house less than 300 calves.
In other news, a Redkey woman received a special exception to run a "country collectibles" store in an agriculture/residential zone.
Wanda Barcus, 10812 West 800 South, said "primitives, antiques, home décor" will be featured at the business, Nana's Memory Lane LLC.
The exception allows her to operate the store in an existing house located at 10889 West 800 South, Redkey. The 74-acre property containing the house belongs to Alcenia Pursley, co-owner of the establishment.[[In-content Ad]]
BZA chairman Dennis Rodgers, Steve Fennig and Steve Ritchie formed the necessary quorum and made the unanimous ruling. Member Carl Walker was not in attendance. There also is one vacant position on the board.
Chris J. Neuenschwander asked the board for a 775-foot variance on the barn he wants to build at 6614 North 550 West, Bryant.
The 60-acre property is owned by James M. Hilty, same address.
If built in the proposed location, the calf operation would be well shy of the mandatory distance requirement of 1,250 feet from an existing school. The Amish school building, located on the property and owned by Hilty, stands 475 feet from where Neuenschwander wanted to locate the calf barn.
Board members pointed to a section of the county's zoning ordinance governing setbacks for confined feeding operations that says: "All structures and confined lots designed to house or contain livestock" shall meet outlined distance requirements.
This portion of the ordinance does not mention numerical requirements for livestock populations at local facilities, said Bill Milligan, director of Jay/Port-land Building and Planning.
Another section of the ordinance contains stipulations for operations to be classified as "confined feeding facilities." It says if a livestock operation has 300 cattle in a confined location, it must meet setback requirements. The proposed 296 calves would not require the building to meet setbacks, according to this stipulation in the county ordinance.
But BZA members said another of the barn's features classifies it as a "confined feeding facility," under local law. Board members said a manure pit that would be located under the calf barn means it meets an additional requirement to fall under the definition.
"(Animal population standards are) not necessarily the (only) criteria for the local ordinance," Rodgers said in an interview this morning.
BZA members also questioned Hilty about the number of hogs in an existing building on the property, and the proposed number of animals for the new building. The numbers - 580 hogs and 296 calves in the two barns - are just under the threshold for the county's current definition of confined feeding facility, 600 and 300, respectively.
Hilty eventually said he was unsure the exact number of pigs in the existing barn.
Neuenschwander said he intends to follow the law and would drop the number of calves in the proposed barn to 250 if necessary.
"We're not trying to push the limit," Neuenschwander said, adding that if the variance received approval he would allow officials to count his livestock.
A proposal that would effectively eliminate a numbers definition for confined feeding facilities is currently pending before the Jay County Planning Commission.
The proposal, which would make any livestock operation not feeding by grazing subject to setback and other provisions in the county zoning ordinance, was sent back to the planning commission by Jay County Commissioners.
The barn could be built in a different part of the property to meet setbacks, the board said. But Neuenschwander told its members doing so would cause substantial inconvenience.
He also said the operation would not fall under oversight of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management because the facility will house less than 300 calves.
In other news, a Redkey woman received a special exception to run a "country collectibles" store in an agriculture/residential zone.
Wanda Barcus, 10812 West 800 South, said "primitives, antiques, home décor" will be featured at the business, Nana's Memory Lane LLC.
The exception allows her to operate the store in an existing house located at 10889 West 800 South, Redkey. The 74-acre property containing the house belongs to Alcenia Pursley, co-owner of the establishment.[[In-content Ad]]
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