Livestock regulations discussed by county board

Protecting existing rural residents while encouraging livestock production in the county was at the heart of a lengthy public hearing Tuesday afternoon, before the York County Commissioners.
For a long period of time, the county’s planning commission has been looking at how many animal units should be allowed, without a special exception. Currently, the county’s units sit at 2,500. If changes are made, that could be reduced to 1,000.
But changing the formula to calculate units, particularly in the area of swine, is the catchy part of the deal — depending on who you ask.
The determination of an animal unit is the relationship of various animals with regard to weight and manure production, based upon 1,000 pounds of animal. So for example, one adult beef animal is considered one animal unit — while a calf is considered a .5 unit.
Right now, swine (of any size) are considered to be a .4 unit. If the proposed changes are made, swine 55 pounds or more would still be considered a .4 unit. But those less than 55 pounds would be considered a .04 unit and a sow with litter would be considered a .5 unit. In other words, 2,500 hogs (weighing 55 pounds or more), would be considered 1,000 units; 25,000 hogs (weighing less than 55 pounds) would be 1,000 units; and 2,000 hogs (sows with litters) would constitute 1,000 units.
That has some rural residents concerned that it will increase the number of hogs that can be allowed without a special exception – and they asked the county commissioners to leave the animal unit regulations the same as they are right now.
Ken Kinney, a member of the Waco Village Board, told the commissioners that his community asked for an additional mile (for planning/zoning jurisdiction) in order for the village to have a say when it comes to livestock units, “but we got spanked and went home. We have enough problems with animal counts in the Waco area as it is. This is just a ploy to add onto the animal numbers. (The Old 76 Group) went through the courts, and it was defined then, so let’s live with those rules.”
“I live two miles from the West Blue (hog confinement) operation, and we ask that the numbers not be changed,” said Marty Rousseau, referring to the new swine production facility south of the Waco interchange. “This would allow for larger units that currently exist. If you work the math, it does increase the numbers. It’s a stinkin’, smellin’ operation out there now, we can smell it two miles away. And as for Arlin Stuhr, he lives less than a mile away, and we’ve gone over there, and (the West Blue facility) smells horrible. That place smells like dead hogs and hogs in general, there are high weeds growing everywhere. What they have, we don’t want to see increased. We’re asking that the numbers not be changed and that what’s in the regulations remains. If you take the animal unit from .4 to .04, it grossly allows more sows. It’s simple math. We ask that the numbers not be played with, and that the directions of the court be upheld.”
York County Zoning Administrator Orval Stahr said the issue arose when West Blue Pork made its application — “we discovered there was a difference between Title 130 and the county’s regulations. This change would make it consistent with what Title 130 says (in reference to state regulations).”
“Title 130 died years ago, it has no relevance,” Rousseau argued.
Stahr said Title 130 still exists.
“I don’t have a particular problem, if the county wants to stick with the .4 animal unit calculation,” Stahr told the county commissioners. “We’re just trying to correct the numbers in the regulations, to be fair to the producers and the neighbors.”
“Orval and I could debate this all day long,” Rousseau said. “But if you look at the county’s regulations, it states that York County can be more restrictive, and the most restrictive regulation applies.
“When these zoning regulations were passed in 2001, the county board knew what it was doing,” Rousseau said. “The county board chose to be more restrictive than the state. We don’t believe that was an oversight, and neither did the judge.”
“We are not here today to make a decision,” said Commissioner Chairman Gus Brown. “We are going to be hearing testimony only.”
Commissioner Ken Stuhr said he believed the change would increase the number of allowable hogs — and the number of sows with litters would be “way too high without a special exception.” He said he was not in favor of increasing the numbers.
No decision was made regarding the animal unit issue. The county board will take written testimony regarding the issue until their next meeting, on July 29. This matter will be revisited at 1 p.m., that day.

Editor’s note: Tomorrow, the News-Times will take a look at other changes being proposed to the county’s zoning regulations, including housing subdivisions and set-backs for livestock operations.