Variance for CFO is denied (07/21/06)

A request for special consideration for a confined feeding operation already under construction was turned down relatively quickly Thursday.

Members of the Jay County Board of Zoning Appeals, after determining the project could proceed without economic hardship to Jackson Township farmer David Graber, denied Graber's request to site one of three hog finishing buildings just 24 feet from his north property line. The property line setback required by state and local ordinances is 100 feet.

Despite the denial, Graber is likely to construct three buildings. He said Thursday evening that he could relocate the northernmost building so it is 100 or more feet from the property line, or could buy land from his neighbor to the north.

The pits for the three buildings have already been dug, but Graber said the pit for the north building could be filled in and dug somewhere else.

The three hog finishing buildings, which will house 1,000 hogs each, will be located at 4171 North 550 West, about three miles east of Pennville.

BZA member Carl Walker, who often refers to three requirements in the county's zoning ordinance when considering a variance request, said Thursday the issue is "as simple as black and white. (Graber) says he can put it somewhere else ... I can't approve it."

Fellow BZA members Steve Ritchie, Don Loy and Steve Fennig voted with Walker to deny Graber's request for a variance. BZA chairman Dennis Rodgers did not vote.

Several nearby residents told the BZA they opposed granting the variance.

Dewey Osborne said he has filed an appeal with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management regarding the project because of concerns that the location of the barns near a swale could affect his property.

"(Graber) knows he had a 100-foot setback ... he goes ahead and builds it and doesn't ask for a variance ... I don't have to like the law, but I have to follow it," Osborne said.

Also asking the BZA to deny the variance was Kenneth Keller, 5101 West 500 North, Pennville.

Graber, who is Amish, said Thursday that IDEM had approved a change in his original application permitting the 24-foot setback.

"I was trying to get (the buildings) as far away as possible (from neighbors)," Graber said.

Citing a recent attempt by county officials to pass stricter local measures regulating confined feeding operations, Osborne asked, "If you don't enforce the ones we have now, why would you pass stricter ones?"

Loy, a longtime advocate of more stringent CFO rules, said Thursday that if new regulations regarding local notification had been adopted, there would have been little controversy at Thursday's meeting.

"Bill (Milligan, director of Jay/Portland Building and Planning) would have known about this before IDEM and this wouldn't have been a problem. Now I guess we've got to wait on the state ... or Farm Bureau," said Loy, referring to the fact that Jay County Commissioners earlier this week were asked to delay action on recommended changes in confined feeding regulations while officials from the state and Indiana Farm Bureau work on new statewide regulations.

At the close of Thursday's meeting, Walker, a local banker who also runs a soil testing service, asked Milligan if he does inspections during construction of CFO buildings.

Milligan said Thursday that he typically does a site inspection for CFOs immediately after the start of construction to check if the building(s) are being located as stated. The buildings are not subject to the uniform building code.

He also said today that he does an inspection and measurements when stakes are placed, and when construction is complete.

Milligan last week asked a board which governs the joint city-county zoning office to consider raising the $25 permit fee for confined feeding buildings because he makes an average of three trips.

Walker said after Thursday's meeting that he asked Milligan about inspections because of concerns about siting concrete manure pits in unsuitable soil types.[[In-content Ad]]