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Edgefield County Council inserts new
ordinances in special called meeting Edgefielddaily.com web posted June 25, 2005 At the special called meeting of the county council to hold a third reading of an ordinance protecting vested rights of property council added, without notice, two new ordinances directed solely at taking vested rights away from a particular businessman. Rodney Cato of Trenton has applied for and been granted federal permits to place four chicken houses on rural property near Trenton. As Edgefield Daily.com has reported, property owners on nearby connecting properties have been going to the planning commission and county council in order to stop the farm. The ordinances, Ordinance Numbers 04-05-566 and 04-05-567, amends Title 15, Chapter 152 of the County Land Use Ordinance and creates a new zoning classification, Agricultural Development (AD) and define Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO’s). Under the new ordinances, which have already had one reading, confined feeding operations are designated as operations where 100 or more animals are confined and fed or maintained for more than a total of 45 days or more in any 12 month period. Operations which house, board, or stable equal numbers of animals are not considered CAFO’s under the new ordinance. Setbacks for the entire county are also being changed from the present 1000 feet requirements to 2000 feet for installing livestock farms near property that contains a residential dwelling, school, or church. No such animal farming will be allowed to be closer than 5000 feet to any property line which is covered by any existing zoning. By instituting the new setbacks the county will force prospective farmers to have more than 120 acres, and as much as 640 acres, even if they intend to use less than one or two acres for the actual farming. Some say the timing of the new ordinances is questionable since the council was voting on preserving vested rights of property owners, primarily developers. The vested rights ordinance protects developers or land speculators who have plans to place “incompatible” uses on property that is zoned. Basically an area, such as Merriwether, which is zoned residential, can have zoning lifted for a wealthy developer who intends to place unwanted businesses next door to a subdivision while not allowing an individual property owner the same stipulations. The more the council manipulates the zoning in the county the more it seems to many it benefits a select few while taking away private property rights of the individual. This is most evident in the zoning being proposed for the Sweetwater Road area to connect Mount Vintage to existing zoning. Clerk to Council, Barbara Stark, said she did not think the ordinances would be on the agenda for the July 5 regular meeting and that a Public Hearing on the ordinances would be held on July 20, 2005. “I think they (Council) will wait until after the public hearing before having a second reading,” she said. Nadine Horne, who has led the charge to defeat the chicken farm, said she is in no way connected to the ordinances being brought forward, “We always said setbacks that affected everyone was not our goal, we have always said zoning was the main objective for our area.” Calls to Rodney Cato have not been returned at this writing. What is next: Edgefield County Council will hold a Public Hearing on the ordinances on July 20 at 6:00 pm at the Council Chambers. The ordinances must have three readings before becoming law. It has already received one reading being passed by a 4-1 vote with Councilman Norman Dorn voting against the ordinances. If, as Clerk to Council Barbara Stark stated, council does not hold a second reading at the July regular meeting the ordinances would pass in September unless council changes the vote tally between now and then. Return to Main Page
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