THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 18, 1994 TAG: 9410180369
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Isle of Wight residents sent a clear message to contract hog farmers Monday night: not in my back yard.
They packed a town meeting to discuss how to respond to a new state law that allows hog farms on any site already zoned for agriculture. The law, signed by Gov. George F. Allen on July 7, requires localities to redraw their rezoning measures by April 1 to remove any requirements for special-use permits for such farms.
The county Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Nov. 8 to discuss adopting a new zoning ordinance that would restrict future hog farms by requiring buffer zones.
Members of the Isle of Wight Defense League said Monday that they fear that more hog farms in the county would devalue surrounding land, destroy the county water table and create an unbearable stench for those living near the farms.
Carroll Foods of Virginia Inc. - which supplies hogs for slaughter to Smithfield Packing and Gwaltney of Smithfield Ltd. - has proposed two contract hog farms.
On hand Monday were state Sens. Richard Holland and Fred Quayle and Dels. William Barlow and Paul Councill.
Councill, who sponsored the original bill eight years ago, told the group that the bill was intended to protect farmers from nuisance suits, not to take away the zoning rights of local government.
``I don't think many people really understood the bill when it was passed,'' he said. ``It was never explained that the rights of local government would be taken away.''
Quayle said that he supported the legislation last January because he thought the bill would help farmers. But he added that the law could be revisited.
``Nothing is done in legislation that can't be undone, if it wasn't done right the first time,'' told the group.
Hog farms became an issue in August, after several county residents learned of two proposed farm sites in the county. The first site is a 120-acre parcel farmed by Henry L. Pulley along the east side of Virginia Route 649 in the community of Central Hill. He has received a permit to farm 1,700 hogs on the site for Carroll Foods. The permit is being challenged in civil court.
The second and more controversial site is two miles from historical St. Luke's Church on Virginia Route 10 and close to the county's only golf course. It is farmed by Robert P. Taylor, who already has 600 hogs at that site. His permit is for a larger operation of 1,700 head.
Isle of Wight Extension Agent Bob Goerger said 65,000 swine, with a value of $9.8 million, are farmed by 50 hog producers in the county.
Robert W. Manly, president of Smithfield Packing, told the group that the smell of the hog farm near his Smithfield home didn't bother him.
``My house is within 2,000 feet of a hog farm,'' he said. ``The highest-priced land is within 2,500 feet of the packing plants. I don't think it's destroying the touring industry here. I don't think it's destroying property values.''
But Isle of Wight resident Grace Keen, who lives near Taylor's farm on Virginia Route 10, said when the wind blows from the west at her home, she can't sit on her front porch because of the odor. by CNB