By Sarah Middaugh, Pilot News Staff Writer
PLYMOUTH - An ordinance restricting Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) will return to the Marshall County Commissioners for approval.
The Marshall County Plan Commission passed the recommendation from the CAFO Advisory Committee with a favorable recommendation during its meeting on Thursday night.
County Plan Director Ralph Booker issued an improvement location permit for Matt Laidig of Laidig FarmLand, LLC, for an 8,000-head hog farm to be located at the corner of 14th Road and Gumwood Road, near Argos and Bourbon, last fall.
“We've been working on this CAFO amendment and it was given to the County Commissioners,” Booker told the members of the plan commission. “The County Commissioners made some suggestions and sent it back to the CAFO Advisory Committee and the CAFO Advisory Committee did meet. They've brought it back to you with essentially only one additional recommendation.”
One item was added at the last meeting so “no building permits for CAFO facilities outlined on the site plan will be permitted in a flood hazard area or flood plain,” Booker said.
Dennis Thornton, who sat on the CAFO sub-committee, noted that water quality is his big concern.
One of the most topical issues with the ordinance includes the distance from which a CAFO should be from its neighbor. The current ordinance, which was mimicked from Clinton County, states the distance should be at least 1,320 feet from the neighbor's residence.
“With order-of-control technologies now, we interpret 1,320 feet to be from the facility to the nearest resident,” Booker said.
“The commissioners wanted it changed to the nearest property line, which essentially is a 1,320 foot setback. The committee discussed this and decided to keep it as it is.”
“If we would go to a setback distance from the property line for example, which the commissioners suggested,” board member Bob Yoder said, “in essence we would severely hamper the expanse of existing facilities in our county.”
On an 8-1 vote, the ordinance passed. Tom Chamberlin, Gary Davis, Larry Fisher, Don Morrison, Harold VanVactor, Max Watkins, Yoder and Chairman David Dinius voted in favor, while Ronnie McCartney cast a no vote.
“Given other occasions and other experiences, I find two things deficient in this document as presented. There's no provision for the size of a unit being grossly oversized for our community, and I think that is a possibility,” McCartney said.