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County wins fight over hog farm
PIERRE, S.D. (AP)--A technicality in the way a Hand County ordinance is written to prevent hog farms from being located too close to others' homes allows a large one within 2 miles of a neighbor, the state Supreme Court has ruled. The decision upholds a county permit given Stan and Mike Kopfmann of Alpena. Their request for a building permit for barns that would hold 960 hogs was approved by Hand County commissioners in September 2006, over the objection of Byron Woodruff. He lives 1.8 miles away. Woodruff appealed to Circuit Judge Jon Erickson, but he also sided with the county. Taking the issue to the Supreme Court, Woodruff argued that the barns are not allowed because they're within 2 miles of his home. The county ordinance says animal-feeding operations of more than 1,000 animals must provide "animal-waste" plans and adhere to the buffer zone. But the Supreme Court points out that the barns would house 960 hogs and are therefore not animal-waste operations. They instead are classified as a commercial feedlot, and a buffer zone is not required for that type of operation, the justices said. The high court noted that it cannot read more into the county ordinance than it plainly states. They did not agree that it is logical, however. "For a commercial feedlot with 960 animal units to have no animal-waste facilities and consequently no residential separation requirement makes no sense," penned Justice Richard W. Sabers. "Therefore, I write specially to encourage the use of commonsense in drafting commercial feedlot ordinances in the future." 11/19/07 Date: 11/14/07
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