ZONING PROPOSAL 2020 REMINDER Code of Conduct for T own of Cleveland Meetings
v Discussion is limited to the public participation section of the meeting agenda. v Comments are limited to 3 minutes per person. An individual’s time may not be given or traded to others. v Persons wishing to speak must sign in if a sign-in sheet is made available. v If a sign-in sheet is not available, persons wishing to speak, shall raise their hand and be recognized by the town chair or designated meeting facilitator. v Comments must relate to the purpose of the meeting or to legitimate town business. v Members of the audience are expected to observe proper decorum. v Personal attacks directed toward others present of members of the board will not be tolerated. v The town chair or the meeting facilitator shall control the meeting. v Political speeches and threats of political action are not permitted. v Address all comments to the T own Board. Discussions between speakers and attendees are not permitted. v Failure to follow the directives of the T own Chair or designated facilitator could result in removal from the meeting.
WHY ZONE? q First, let’s get in our 1982 DeLorean tractor and go back to the Spring of 2018 when it was learned a Minnesota group (Four-Mile LLC) wanted to locate an 8000 head pig farm in the township. q It would be putting it mildly to say a fair number of residents were not happy about the prospect of what that would do to the township’s air quality, water quality and quality of life in general. q While the general uproar and disapproval caused Four-Mile LLC to withdraw its application for the necessary permits to build a hog farm, the prospect that a similar operation could locate anywhere in the Town of Cleveland has not disappeared.
q Since the hog farm controversy, we have learned a great deal about CAFO’s and how they are regulated and how they can be regulated. What is a CAFO? q Most importantly, we have learned that CAFO’s Ø The type of hog farm that Four-Mile wanted to locate in cannot be expressly prohibited from locating in a Cleveland is known as a municipality. In other words, you cannot pass a law Concentrated Animal Feeding that says CAFO’s are prohibited in your municipality. Operation or CAFO. q We’ve learned that the primary tool a municipality Ø Wisconsin law defines a CAFO has in controlling where CAFO’s can locate is zoning. as any livestock and poultry feeding operation with at least q As noted earlier, CAFO’s cannot be expressly 1000 animal units. prohibited from coming into a community, but the municipality can set up a designated area in which Ø 1000 animal units is roughly they can operate. equivalent to 700 dairy cows, 1000 beef cattle, 2500 pigs or 125,000 broiler chickens q Areas in which CAFO’s are permitted are sometimes referred to as industrial agriculture zones or sacrifice zones.
q At the township’s annual meeting in 2018, the Board was directed by an overwhelming majority (90% +) of those present to pursue measures necessary to regulate CAFO’s in the T own of Cleveland. q Since that time, the Town Board and Planning Commission have reviewed various zoning ordinances, attended meetings, and consulted with professionals about the regulation of CAFO’s. The result is a simple zoning proposal. q The plan calls for the township to have 2 zones. The first is an agricultural/ residential zone which will cover the entire township with the exception of 80 acres. q The 80 acres that is not zoned agricultural/ residential is to be zoned for industrial agriculture, which will provide an area for CAFO’s to operate if such an operator wishes to locate in the township and IF the landowner wishes to sell their land for that purpose. q The proposed industrial agriculture zone is located north of County Z, slightly northeast of 230 th Street.
Proposed Industrial Agriculture Zone The 80-acre proposed zone consists of the SW ¼ of the NE ¼ of Section 11, Township 31 N, Range 7 W and the SE ¼ of the NE ¼ of Section 11, Township 31 N, Range 7 W
Tax Parcels 23107-1113-00000000 & 23107-1114-00000000
WHY THERE? q The Board and the Planning Commission considered a number of areas before settling on this location. q The first consideration was proximity to residences. q The County’s 911 map shows the location of residences throughout the township. In the area designated for industrial agriculture, there are few residences relative to the rest of the Town of Cleveland. The red points on the following map show the locations of homes. q As you can see, there are relatively few residences near the proposed industrial agriculture zone.
q The second consideration was proximity to, and the potential effect on ground and surface water. q An attempt was made to find a site where the manure and other runoff would have minimal impact on water. This involved a great deal of consideration since most of the township sits on water. q The maps that follow show surface water, the depth to groundwater and the susceptibility of groundwater to contamination.
q Thirdly, a buffer for the industrial agriculture zone was considered beneficial. The idea is that a buffer may reduce the noise and odor emanating from a CAFO should one locate in the proposed designated area. q Under the plan as recommended, the Department of Natural Resources owns land to the north of the suggested zone and Chippewa County Land Conservancy owns land east of the proposed zone.
q A fourth consideration was current land use. Presently, the designated area is being used for agricultural purposes. The following map shows how land is being used in the township. q Also considered was the suitability of the location to public roadways. The site is close to a town road (230 th Street) and County Highway Z.
What Does This Zoning Ordinance Mean to T own Residents? q The goals of the Board and the Commission were to have a relatively simple zoning ordinance and to allow residents to maintain the rural way of life they have always enjoyed. q In the area zoned agricultural/ residential, which covers a vast majority of land in the township, there will be no changes in the types of activities and land uses presently being enjoyed. q In the industrial ag zone there will be no change in the current types of activities and land uses unless the land is sold to an entity that wishes to establish a CAFO.
The planning commission and the town board recommend this plan as the least intrusive and most effective means to carry out the mandate given by the town’s residents.
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