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Saturday, February 09, 2008
Environment - Even more on "Randolph County could zone 220,000 acres for CAFOs"
Updating this ILB entry from Jan. 8th, which quoted a report that:
WINCHESTER -- After rejecting an ordinance that would restrict where industrial farms can be built in Randolph County, commissioners approved a moratorium Monday, halting the expansion of confined feeding and concentrated animal feeding operations in one of the state's leading agricultural counties.Joy Leiker, Henry and Randolph county reporter for the Muncie Star-Press writes today:
WINCHESTER -- One of the nation's largest pig producers has filed suit in Randolph County, hoping to overturn a moratorium that blocks its local expansion.According to the suit, "The moratorium has adversely affected Maxwell Foods' plans for the development of additional CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) facilities."
In papers filed this week, Maxwell Foods asked Randolph Circuit Court to determine the validity of a moratorium approved Jan. 7 by a 2-1 vote of the board of county commissioners. The board is named in the suit.Attorneys for Maxwell Foods, a North Carolina company, insist the moratorium is "null, void and unenforceable under Indiana law" because it wasn't enacted properly. They've asked a judge to make a declaratory judgment in the case.
Commissioner Kathy Beumer made a motion to approve the moratorium during a regular commission meeting. The motion came moments after the commission voted against an ordinance that would have toughened the county's zoning rules for CAFOs and the smaller confined feeding operations (CFOs.)
Beumer's motion included a condition that the moratorium remain in effect until seven issues (including affects on water supplies and the housing market) are "thoroughly investigated and resolved."
Daniel McInerny and Alex Intermill, the attorneys from Indianapolis firm Bose, McKinney and Evans, assert that Beumer's motion and the commission's subsequent vote act as a zoning ordinance "as it regulates the use of land" in the county.
And as an ordinance, the attorneys allege it wasn't approved properly.
State statute notes the adoption of a zoning ordinance must be initiated by the planning commission.
Three farmers have since filed improvement location permits with the Area Planning Commission of Randolph County. The farmers raise pigs for Maxwell Foods, and sought the permits to expand their operations. All were denied.
Executive Director Cathy Flatter said the denials were based on the moratorium.
The farmers, Greg Sickels, Aaron Chalfant and Gary Foulke, are named, along with Maxwell Foods, as plaintiffs in the case. All are being represented by the same Indianapolis law firm. The Board of Commissioners is the lone defendant.
Chalfant is the son of county Commissioner Ron Chalfant.
Others already have accused the elder Chalfant of a conflict of interest, though he has denied any such conflict. A farmer, he's a staunch supporter of the local agriculture community. He cast the lone vote against the moratorium last month.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 9, 2008 09:57 AM
Posted to Environment