A county commission wants to change the code that allowed a hog farm to expand near Spiceland without a public hearing.
Henry County Planning Commission members said they want the chance to vote on a new way of defining confined animal feeding operations. The six members at Thursday's meeting unanimously approved a plan to bring the proposal to a public hearing at their September meeting.
The plan is to take a vote after the public hearing and, if it's approved, send the amended code to Henry County Commissioners for final approval.
Commission members had originally been asked to form a three-person committee that would study the county development code and propose possible changes. Instead, the planning commission decided on a change at Thursday's meeting and scrapped plans for the committee.
Commission member Michelle Bryant said she didn't want the process to drag on indefinitely and never result in any action. If the county doesn't stop more CAFOs from coming to town, businesses will never want to locate here, she said.
"We need to get it done," she said at the meeting. "We're going to let Henry County go down the crapper."
The proposed CAFO definition is nearly identical to the one the state uses. It outlines specific numbers of animals but does not include any language about square footage. Any operation that fits the definition would have to come before a public hearing.
It doesn't guarantee that CAFOs will no longer be approved, but it promises that the public will at least get a say first.
The change is part of the county's response to the recent approval of 4D Livestock's addition of 8,000 hogs and two barns to its current 8,000-hog operation.
Trent and Brandon Dishman, who operate the farm near 1669 W. Road 700S, were never required to appear before a county board, and they were automatically granted a building permit from the county for their new barns.
Zoning Administrator Adam Hollars explained said the reason is because of the county's definition of a CAFO. Currently, the rules are based on a hog-to-space ratio.
Because the Dishmans plan to allow more than the required space, their hog farm doesn't meet the county's definition of a CAFO. That's why it never came to a public hearing, Hollars said.
County officials have said they wanted to change the rules so something similar doesn't happen with another operation. Commissioners asked the planning commission to form a committee so that members could study the development code and propose a change.
At first, commission members voted on forming a committee, and Bryant voted no. Then, when members discussed who should be on the committee, she said she wanted to be part of it.
She said she wants the code to be changed, but she wants it to happen as soon as possible.
"I voted against it (the committee) because I was afraid it would drag on and on and on like all the other things we've taken before us," Bryant said. "We don't ever do anything."
Then, Hollars told the commission he had a few ideas for changes. He handed out copies of the definition that's similar to the state's definition and said he thought it would solve the issues that people in the community have complained about to him.
County Commissioner Bill Cronk, who's also on the planning commission, said he thinks the rules need to be changed and made a motion to consider Hollars' suggestion as an official proposal at the next meeting.
The commission must publish a legal advertisement sometime before the next meeting, letting the public know what's being considered. If the commission approves the proposal in September, their decision won't have staying power but will be brought to county commissioners as a recommendation.
Commissioners would also have to have a public hearing before making a final decision, attorney James Millikan said.
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