Grant County CAFO Freeze!
No permits will be issued to confined feeding operations wanting to locate in Grant County for up to six months as officials look at changing how the large-scale farms are regulated.
The Grant County Area Plan Commission voted Tuesday not to issue permits before a standing room only crowd at its Tuesday night meeting.
The decision comes at a time when several local residents are upset with a mega dairy going in near the town of Van Buren:
“This proposed CAFO, we believe, is in a bad location, less than one mile away from the town of Van Buren,” Commissioner Jeremy Diller said. “We need to look long-term as a county about how we want to deal with that.”
The plan is to use the moratorium to study the issue by way of a committee. The same reader also forwarded the text of a letter read at the meeting, allegedly by a representative of the Grant County Farm Bureau:
Grant County Farm Bureau, Inc. has been concerned for some time over agricultural zoning in Grant County. The end result of any zoning changes should lead to good public policy. In the long run, criteria should enable the APC and BZA to address citizens concerns through performance standards. We understand our commission members and citizens concerns over trying to apply 1970’s zoning standards to today’s community. We agree there are unrealistic expectations and would like to offer solutions that take into account today’s reality and allow for future growth with protection afforded to all.
That sounds like a good piece of common sense to me.
