Grant County Considers Local Control
The ad hoc committee studying possible changes in Grant County’s zoning code to give local policy makers control over the development of new CAFO’s is set to present its recommendations to the planning commission on September 25th. The possibilities on the table at this point include:
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Requiring proposed animal feeding operations to seek a special exception on land zoned for agriculture. A special exception would be voted on by the Board of Zoning Appeals.
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Creating a separate zoning district in Grant County for such operations. The Area Plan Commission would make a recommendation on a proposed rezoning, and the Grant County commissioners or other government body would vote based on that recommendation.
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Requiring proposed animal feeding operations to present a development plan to the Area Plan Commission. The Area Plan Commission would approve or not approve the zoning plan based on whether it adheres to standards set by the county for such operations.
Jon Bomberger, a Fort Wayne attorney specializing in zoning, said awarding a special exception or a rezoning request would come at the discretion of the government boards considering them, while development plans would have to be approved if they met the standards set by county ordinance.
"Your first decision is who’s going to make the decision once you create the ordinance you’re going to create for animal feeding operations," Bomberger said.
Link. Such a provisions are crucial to put local authority in the loop on CAFO’s, preventing the situation that has occurred in Randolph County recently, where local officials only find out that a CAFO is coming to a particular site when the operation applies for it NPDES permit with IDEM.
Local control is not favored by state policy makers as it provides another hurtle for new CAFO’s to clear, inhibiting growth. Plus it provides an opportunity for concerned local residents to have greater influence in the approval process. Local control is becoming the rallying cry of CAFO opponents, having found state level review of these operations lacking.
August 31st, 2006 09:10
Local control SHOULD be a greater issue, as the canned response from IDEM clearly states that “your local government should decide if a site is appropriate”
September 1st, 2006 11:38
Good point. By “decide” I think that IDEM means roll over and play dead. IDEM doesn’t expect any local governments to actually make any decisions about CAFO’s. Now that Grant County is taking action, I predict that IDEM or others at the state level will try to prevent them from doing so.