SYLVESTER - Just over a week after the Sylvester Town Board requested Green County Zoning Administrator Adam Wiegel evaluate whether there were unlawful practices on the property of an incoming 5,800-cow dairy, Wiegel responded and cited no violations per county code.
The town board expressed concerns over certain uses by managers during construction of the concentrated animal feeding operation on 127 acres of land along County FF and Decatur-Sylvester Road.
Addressed to Wiegel, the board wrote that "after receiving phone calls from our constituents and observing the same issues at the above mentioned building site we are therefore requesting your department's assistance in answering these questions."
A portable concrete plant was in the process of being built during the week of Aug. 21, the date of the letter. Board members asked Wiegel if there needed to be a public hearing and referred to Green County Title 4 Zoning Regulations in chapter three of county code regarding building and land use in an agricultural district. Wiegel wrote the portable building was being put in place solely because of the CAFO being built and that "general farming is an allowed use in the Agricultural District."
After citing code section 4-3-1-2 (A)(11)(n), the same one referenced by Sylvester's Board, he wrote that the county does not require a conditional use permit for that type of activity.
Another sticking point was the use of a westside ditch owned by the township being used by Pinnacle contractors as part of the facility's retention pond, which board members argued would be located within the town right of way.
"We question this usage if the road would need to be widened at this point for a turn lane or for safety/fire issues," the letter reads, asking what the allowed footage would be for Pinnacle managers to use as the berm for the pond.
Because the zoning department does not view retention ponds as structures, "it does not regulate setbacks or issue Zoning Permits for retention ponds," Wiegel wrote.
The town also noted that the first high-capacity well had been built on the property and questioned whether it also would be in the town right of way, which garnered the same response.
"The Zoning Department does not consider wells structures under County Code section 4-6-4," Wiegel wrote. "Therefore, the Zoning Department does not regulate setbacks or issue Zoning Permits for wells."
Green County's Board of Adjustment and Sylvester Town Board have recently been embattled over how much control the township can exert over the incoming large-scale dairy. While Sylvester has been attempting to work with Pinnacle Dairy LLC in order to deliberate a driveway permit, they have been met with little cooperation.
A Board of Adjustment public hearing on July 26 granted a permit variance to Pinnacle and property owner Friedly Bader Farm LLC, which would allow the CAFO contractors to gain a county zoning permit. The township objected to this because Pinnacle representatives had not fulfilled necessary requirements at the local level to receive a township driveway permit. Zoning officials disagreed, citing the time spent over discussion of the driveway permit to be a hardship placed on Pinnacle despite the township's assertion that granting the variance violates county code.
On Thursday, the Sylvester Town Board met for a monthly meeting. Township lawyer Mark Steichen and Pinnacle attorney Paul Jonas discussed an agreement with conditions for a driveway permit, including an evaluation of the Decatur-Sylvester Road at the cost of Pinnacle to repair the crumbling asphalt. Anna Anderson, board chair, also indicated that a letter would be sent to the county zoning department requesting that a comprehensive revision be made of Green County. Anderson explained that if one were to be done, it would be a first step in allowing the township to remove control of the zoning from Green County officials and allow more zoning control at a local level.
Board officials Terry Reed, David Schenk and Anderson also agreed to support the effort to institute a statewide CAFO moratorium, as well as including the township under the umbrella of a recently approved countywide moratorium for roughly 270 days.
The town board expressed concerns over certain uses by managers during construction of the concentrated animal feeding operation on 127 acres of land along County FF and Decatur-Sylvester Road.
Addressed to Wiegel, the board wrote that "after receiving phone calls from our constituents and observing the same issues at the above mentioned building site we are therefore requesting your department's assistance in answering these questions."
A portable concrete plant was in the process of being built during the week of Aug. 21, the date of the letter. Board members asked Wiegel if there needed to be a public hearing and referred to Green County Title 4 Zoning Regulations in chapter three of county code regarding building and land use in an agricultural district. Wiegel wrote the portable building was being put in place solely because of the CAFO being built and that "general farming is an allowed use in the Agricultural District."
After citing code section 4-3-1-2 (A)(11)(n), the same one referenced by Sylvester's Board, he wrote that the county does not require a conditional use permit for that type of activity.
Another sticking point was the use of a westside ditch owned by the township being used by Pinnacle contractors as part of the facility's retention pond, which board members argued would be located within the town right of way.
"We question this usage if the road would need to be widened at this point for a turn lane or for safety/fire issues," the letter reads, asking what the allowed footage would be for Pinnacle managers to use as the berm for the pond.
Because the zoning department does not view retention ponds as structures, "it does not regulate setbacks or issue Zoning Permits for retention ponds," Wiegel wrote.
The town also noted that the first high-capacity well had been built on the property and questioned whether it also would be in the town right of way, which garnered the same response.
"The Zoning Department does not consider wells structures under County Code section 4-6-4," Wiegel wrote. "Therefore, the Zoning Department does not regulate setbacks or issue Zoning Permits for wells."
Green County's Board of Adjustment and Sylvester Town Board have recently been embattled over how much control the township can exert over the incoming large-scale dairy. While Sylvester has been attempting to work with Pinnacle Dairy LLC in order to deliberate a driveway permit, they have been met with little cooperation.
A Board of Adjustment public hearing on July 26 granted a permit variance to Pinnacle and property owner Friedly Bader Farm LLC, which would allow the CAFO contractors to gain a county zoning permit. The township objected to this because Pinnacle representatives had not fulfilled necessary requirements at the local level to receive a township driveway permit. Zoning officials disagreed, citing the time spent over discussion of the driveway permit to be a hardship placed on Pinnacle despite the township's assertion that granting the variance violates county code.
On Thursday, the Sylvester Town Board met for a monthly meeting. Township lawyer Mark Steichen and Pinnacle attorney Paul Jonas discussed an agreement with conditions for a driveway permit, including an evaluation of the Decatur-Sylvester Road at the cost of Pinnacle to repair the crumbling asphalt. Anna Anderson, board chair, also indicated that a letter would be sent to the county zoning department requesting that a comprehensive revision be made of Green County. Anderson explained that if one were to be done, it would be a first step in allowing the township to remove control of the zoning from Green County officials and allow more zoning control at a local level.
Board officials Terry Reed, David Schenk and Anderson also agreed to support the effort to institute a statewide CAFO moratorium, as well as including the township under the umbrella of a recently approved countywide moratorium for roughly 270 days.