United States-Opposition to beef farm.
UNITED STATES-OPPOSITION TO CATTLE FARM.
A cow-calf ranching operation on the southeast corner of Chadron’s boundary that appears to have grown into a feedlot with intended capacity of 800 head of cattle has raised concerns of residents about potential problems with odor and erosion.
But the city planning commission, which had scheduled a public hearing on a special use permit for a feedlot on Andrew Curd’s Spring Creek Ranch on Ridgeview Road , found itself without an issue to act on when Curd withdrew his permit application a few hours before Monday’s hearing.
Curd apparently believes that his cattle feeding, which now involves 390 head, is a pre-existing operation which doesn’t need a city permit, Planning Commission chairman Chuck Miller told an audience of about 25 people at the hearing. "My personal opinion is that he requires a special use permit, but that’s my personal opinion," Miller said.
Everyone at the hearing agreed that the ranch, located adjacent to Chadron State College’s ’C-Hill’ tract, and just past the city limits, has been used for cattle grazing at various times in the past. "For a number of years they have had cows and calves in there," said Gerry Traphagen, whose residential property in the Hidden Valley subdivision borders the ranch on the west.
But the size of the current herd, and the practice of feeding all of the animals on a 32 acre lot adjacent to the city limits through the winter, raised concerns for many of those present.
"I don’t have a problem with what Andy has been doing," said Jim Stokey, another neighbor in Hidden Valley . "I certainly wouldn’t want a feedlot to go in there or 800 cows to be there year round."
Curd currently has 390 feeder cattle on the property, according to a letter written to him by the Department of Environmental Quality earlier this month. That letter also says that his operation has a proposed maximum capacity of 800 head of feeder cattle, and that he must remove manure from concentrated feeding areas, and seed bare areas to small grains or grass following removal of cattle in the spring.
The operation is being run as a typical ranch, where cattle are brought in to a smaller area for feeding in the winter, then turned out onto pasture in spring, said Chadron resident Larry Olson. Because the operation predates city zoning codes, he shouldn’t require a permit, Olson said. "I think Mr Curd is grandfathered in prior to your ordinances," he said.
The zoning code, which applies to properties within two miles of the city’s boundary and was adopted in 1997, allows a Type 1 cattle operation in the agricultural zone without a permit, but requires a permit for Type II and Type III operations, which have larger numbers of animals being fed in a confined area, said city planning officer Janet Johnson.
And the DEQ letter notes that Curd is responsible for complying with county and local zoning requirements, and for preventing any runoff or discharge to state waters, said Miller.
Curd’s special use permit application was for a Type III Confined Animal Feeding Operation. He brought in the first of the cattle that are presently at the ranch in October and indicated he planned to keep them until late April or early May, said Johnson.
Feeding so many cattle in a confined area will have negative impacts, said Tim Anderson, a resident on nearby Pinecrest Drive . "Eventually that amount of cattle in a confined area is going to harm the land and there will come a time when the smell is going to come into Chadron."
Soil erosion in the feeding area is a likely consequence of the operation, said Chuck Butterfield, a Chadron State College range management professor. That will lead to dust, possibly contaminated with animal waste, being blown into the city, he said. The operation also raises concerns of odor, increased truck traffic through a residential area, and possible well contamination, he said.
Odor from the feed lot is already an issue, according to another neighbor, Mark Graves, who said he doesn’t have a problem with the current operation but would not want an increase to 800 animals. "We do smell the feedlot now. It does smell. If you get the smell in town, what does that do to property values?
The potential impact on Chadron State College from a feedlot near campus should also be considered from an economic point of view, said Augie Bruehlman, a business professor. "You might want to put a pencil to that," he said.
The college itself probably doesn’t object to a continuation of the past practices on the ranch, but would be more concerned if the number of animals increases or if the confined feeding continues year around, said Dale Grant, a CSC vice president. "We are trying to sell ourselves to people who aren’t from an agricultural background," he said.
Olson rejected those arguments, however, and said that the operation is not a feed lot, because the cattle have open access to a large pasture. A person who buys property next to range land has no right to complain about odor from the cattle, Olson said.
In addition, said Olson, there are other owners running cattle inside the city limits or on its boundaries, and they have not been required to obtain permits.
After closing the public hearing, planning commission members were in a quandry about what formal action they could take regarding a permit application that was withdrawn, since they had no way to move the issue forward for consideration by the city council.
The commissioners eventually voted unanimously to ask the city attorney for advice on three issues: whether Curd’s operation is ’grandfathered in’ and doesn’t have to meet current regulations; whether it fits the definition of a ’confined feeding’ operation; and whether it requires a special use permit.
From the public’s point of view, the
issue may boil down to what kind of business Curd is running, said city council member John Chizek, who attended the hearing. "I think most people aren’t opposed to a cow/calf operation, but this is not a cow/calf operation."
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