Changes to rules rejected

The process over proposed changes in zoning rules for confined feeding operations in Jay County will wage on.
Jay County Plan Commission voted Thursday to reject an amended ordinance and send it back to Jay County Commissioners, who will have 45 days to act.
In June, commissioners voted 2-1 to make five amendments to the proposed changes the plan commission settled on in March.
Unable to amend the ordinance itself, plan commission took a series of up or down votes Thursday to allow commissioners to see where it stands on their changes.
A majority of the members present issued disapproval on three amendments that deal with requirements for mail notification, proposed setback lengths and the amount of hogs allowed for operations.
It was the amendment over mail notification, which would require all property owners and tenants within a 1-mile radius of a proposed construction site be notified via certified mail of the proposed plan, that forced the 5-0 vote of disapproval from members Larry Temple, Matt Minnich, Mike Rockwell, Jim Zimmerman and Shane Houck on the ordinance as a whole.
Members Paula Confer, Brad Daniels, Ron Laux and Scott Hilfiker were absent.
Prior to the vote, Jay/Portland Building and Planning director John Hemmelgarn, whose two-person office is tasked with preparing the mail, told commission members the increased radius would quadruple its mail load.
It would also require an additional $20,000 to be budgeted to the department annually because of the $6.72 cost per letter for certified mail.
The plan commission originally recommended a half-mile radius for certified mail notification.
In discussion, Hemmelgarn described the requirements for notification as “silly,” noting most people either hear through word of mouth or through social media about proposed CFOs. The commission settled ultimately on a recommendation of a half-mile radius and a switch to regular mail, noting the cost savings it could provide.
Setback lengths were also discussed at Thursday’s meeting, with the commission voting 3-2 in favor of a setback length of 1,100 feet for its second tier.
In March, the plan commission recommended to commissioners setbacks of 750 feet from residences for confined feeding operations with 100 to 500 cattle or horses, 300 to 8,800 sheep, 300 to 10,000 swine, 500 to 24,000 ducks, 500 to 48,000 starter turkeys, 500 to 30,000 turkeys, and 5,000 to one million chickens. Operations with more animals than those limits would require a setback of 1,100 feet.
Commissioners voted in June to increase the second tier setback to 1,320 feet, a quarter mile, the length the plan commission originally decided on before switching it to 1,100 feet at its last meeting.
At that meeting, Minnich suggested the original length was too stringent.
Houck and Rockwell voted against Thursday’s measure, both wondering how much difference 220 feet makes.
“I guess my conservative principles, so to speak, tell me I wouldn’t want to put any burden or undue burden that’s not necessary,” Minnich said in response. “What I’m hearing from Shane and Mike is that 220 feet really isn’t that big of difference, so why put an undue burden on our agriculture community in this county, which is a strong growth and money giver, through taxes and things like that.”
Houck said he’d like to see a longer setback to account for any future animal growth in operations.
“Twenty-five years from now, where is it going to be then?,” he asked. “I just think we’ve got to be proactive and look into the future to see what happen … so it just helps to create a little buffer around some of the larger operations and facilities.”
The commission voted against an amendment that would decrease the number of hogs allowed for CFOs.
Commissioners amended the zoning rules to decrease the first tier maximum limit of hogs from 10,000 to 8,800.
In March, the plan commission settled on 10,000 hogs after Dennis Chenoweth, a local farmer, said the an originally proposal of 8,800 hogs was too restrictive because he said a standard barn now holds 4,600 to 4,800 hogs.
“My reason for nay, I guess, is the 10,000 gives a little variance for change. The 10,000 for me, and I've had this discussion with many people, the (10,000) just gives a little variance for a change,” said Zimmerman.
Commission members voted without opposition and little discussion to recommend commissioners keep amendments in place that define satellite manure structures as “0-1 million gallon” and requires proposed CFOs site plans be “drawn to scale.”
Thursday’s meeting was the latest in a two-year process to change the county’s CFO regulations. The discussion began in summer 2014 after J Star Farms started construction on a chicken operation without the proper permits.