Neighbor appeals Creekwood permit approval over potential odor
Posted: Friday, April 20, 2018 12:51 pm
LAKE MILLS — A Town of Lake Mills resident who objects to odor-control practices to be used in expansion of a neighboring poultry farm has filed an appeal challenging a conditional-use permit granted by Jefferson County for the egg-production operation.
Aaron R. Johnson is appealing the conditional-use permit because he reportedly believes Jefferson County officials incorrectly applied the state standards for odor control applicable to the expansion of the Daybreak Foods Inc. facility, located at N5505 and 5344 Crossman Road.
In March, the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Committee approved the conditional-use permit allowing Daybreak Foods Inc. to expand its egg operation to 2.75 million chickens. Daybreak will be adding 950,000 chickens to the current 1.8 million at its Creekwood Farms facility, located off of County Highway A.
The company plans to boost its numbers to 27,500 animal units consisting of 2 million layers and about 750,000 pullets.
Daybreak also plans to modernize Creekwood Farms, one of the oldest operational layer facilities in the country, by building five new cage-free layer barns; three new cage-free pullet barns; one new manure storage facility and associated manure transfer systems from the new layer barns; and one new manure storage facility for the pullet manure.
In addition, nine existing layer barns and two existing pullet barns will be removed and one existing compost building will be closed. Two other existing compost buildings will be used for equipment storage, but would be maintained for storing manure in the event of an emergency.
Residents and landowners within two miles of the proposed expansion may add comments in a “statement of position” until May 18.
Wisconsin law allows “statements of position” from the county, the facility applicant, and any resident or landowner within two miles of the proposed facility. Each of those parties may file a statement with the review board, which will consider the statements as part of its decisionmaking to uphold or overturn the local government’s decision.
Statements of position must address specific issues presented in the appeal; no new arguments or evidence will be accepted. For a copy of the appeal, call or email review board attorney Cheryl Daniels, (608) 224-5026, cheryl.daniels@wi.gov. The county’s decision record is available by contacting the Jefferson County Office of Corporation Counsel, 311 S. Center Avenue, Room 110, Jefferson, WI 53549; (920) 674-7135.
Statements of position must be limited to the issues outlined in the request for review submitted to the board; be 10 pages or less, in type no smaller than 12 points for typed documents; and include the docket number for this appeal (18-LFSRB-01). Email submissions are preferred. If submitted in paper form, include seven copies along with the original.
Statements must be received by May 18. Email statements to SitingBoard@wi.gov, or mail paper copies to Livestock Facility Siting Review Board, Attn: Attorney Cheryl Daniels, P.O. Box 8911, Madison, WI, 53708-8911.
The conditional-use permit was applied for under Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (ATCP) Chapter 51: Livestock Facility Siting, and state statute 93.90 (DATCP livestock facility siting and expansion). Per those regulations, five worksheets that cover the location of livestock structures, odor and air emissions, nutrient management, waste storage facilities and runoff management must be completed.
Under ATCP 51, regulatory power has been removed from the local communities, and if the standards are met within the five worksheets and by the local Land and Water Conservation Department, the Planning and Zoning Committee is required to approve the permit.
There were five conditions that the committee was “legally allowed” to place on the conditional-use permit. They were:
• Annual nutrient-management plan updates shall be submitted to the Land and Water Conservation Department by Sept. 30 of each year for the following crop year. These updates shall account for any nutrients applied to farmland.
• The Land and Water Conservation Department must be informed of the pre-construction conference and when work will begin on the manure-storage structures.
• Per Jefferson County Zoning Ordinance 11.05(d)(2)(d), the manure-storage structure certification “shall be filed at least 10 days prior to population of the facilities by the animal unit count approved under the permit.” As-builts should be sent to the Land and Water Conservation Department upon certification.
• Per the livestock siting law, ATCP 51.08(2), within two years, the livestock operator must begin populating the approved facility and begin construction on every new or expanded livestock housing structure, as well as every new or expanded waste storage structure proposed in the application.
• Any alterations or additions to the operation after the permit is issued that changes one of the worksheets or applications requires a permit update or new livestock siting application, depending on the circumstances.
Under the livestock siting review law, the review board is the citizen group that hears appeals when a local government grants or denies a request for a new or expanded livestock operation. The appeal process is open only to the applicant and property owners or residents within a two-mile radius of the proposed operation.
The review board has 60 days to make a decision after receiving certified documents from the local government. It will meet to discuss the issue and reach a decision, but there will be no additional opportunity for public comment or parties to testify at the meeting.