THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 10, 1994 TAG: 9410100040
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
A subcommittee, appointed by the Planning Commission to look at hog farms in Isle of Wight, plans to recommend that the agricultural portion of the county's proposed zoning ordinance be adopted apart from the entire ordinance, said Robert Manly, a subcommittee member.
Manly said the recommendation will be made at 2 p.m. Tuesday during a regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting in the Board of Supervisors room at the Isle of Wight Courthouse.
The subcommittee was appointed after members of the Isle of Wight Defense League, a coalition of residents opposing the hog farms in the county, called on the board of supervisors to intervene in two proposed farms in the county.
Members said they feared the farms could contaminate groundwater and decrease real estate values because of their smell.
Subcommittee members are: Manly, Frances Griffin and Martin Jones.
The subcommittee met last week to discuss how the proposed Right-to-Farm Bill could affect future hog farms in the county, the county's current zoning ordinances and concerns addressed by residents.
``We also reviewed what had been done in other places,'' Manly said.
Manly said that if the Planning Commission accepts the recommendation and passes it on to the Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors for consideration, public hearings would be held by both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors.
Manly said one of the changes that could come as a result of adopting the ordinance is that large-scale livestock operations, such as hog operations, would have to provide a buffer zone of 1,000 feet from businesses or homes.
Right now, there are no restrictions, he said. by CNB