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Otoe County Planning Commission members recently discussed a re-examination of zoning ordinances that require a distance between new home construction and ground where hog manure is applied.
Otoe County commissioners declared in 2003 that the county’s comprehensive development and zoning plan is intended to protect agriculture from the conflicting land uses associated with urban housing.
Commissioners said people who live in cities, such as Lincoln, are attracted to the peacefulness of the country, but when they get to their new acreage home they may complain about the agricultural practices around them.
Orval Stahr, a development consultant from York, devised a strategy that not only would set a distance between new houses and existing hog operations, but would prohibit home construction near fields where hog manure is spread on the surface.
Planning Commission Chairman Dan Hodges said Sept. 17 that the county experimented with the setbacks on field applications and has had enough time to evaluate its impact.
County planner Howard Bebout said the setbacks are not only linked to a hog producer’s land, but any land he leases or works on. He said the setbacks can restrict development for miles and miles.
“We have way too few people controlling way too much land concerning development,” he said.
“You could have a farmer whose family has owned land for a century, but he can’t build on it because someone applies manure next to it. That’s not right,” he said.
David Schmitz, county zoning director, said he expects the county’s nine large-scale livestock producers, to oppose eliminating the setbacks.
Hodges said manure that is injected or worked into the soil is not a problem for neighbors. He said only surface application produces an odor and said it only lasts a couple of weeks.
Otoe County Planning Commission members recently discussed a re-examination of zoning ordinances that require a distance between new home construction and ground where hog manure is applied.
Otoe County commissioners declared in 2003 that the county’s comprehensive development and zoning plan is intended to protect agriculture from the conflicting land uses associated with urban housing.
Commissioners said people who live in cities, such as Lincoln, are attracted to the peacefulness of the country, but when they get to their new acreage home they may complain about the agricultural practices around them.
Orval Stahr, a development consultant from York, devised a strategy that not only would set a distance between new houses and existing hog operations, but would prohibit home construction near fields where hog manure is spread on the surface.
Planning Commission Chairman Dan Hodges said Sept. 17 that the county experimented with the setbacks on field applications and has had enough time to evaluate its impact.
County planner Howard Bebout said the setbacks are not only linked to a hog producer’s land, but any land he leases or works on. He said the setbacks can restrict development for miles and miles.
“We have way too few people controlling way too much land concerning development,” he said.
“You could have a farmer whose family has owned land for a century, but he can’t build on it because someone applies manure next to it. That’s not right,” he said.
David Schmitz, county zoning director, said he expects the county’s nine large-scale livestock producers, to oppose eliminating the setbacks.
Hodges said manure that is injected or worked into the soil is not a problem for neighbors. He said only surface application produces an odor and said it only lasts a couple of weeks.
