THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 16, 1994 TAG: 9408160361
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
St. Luke's Church, the most visited historic site in Isle of Wight County, may have a unwanted neighbor on Route 10 - a hog farm with as many as 1,700 swine.
Likewise, the squeal of hogs might be heard at the Isle of Wight Courthouse on U.S. Route 258, if a hog farm is built in the Central Hill area of Isle of Wight.
Two area farmers, Robert P. Taylor and Henry L. Pulley, have applied for permits to build the county's first contract hog farms for Carroll Foods of Virginia Inc. Pulley's permit has been approved by the State Water Control Board; Taylor's is under consideration.
And some residents think those plans are hogwash.
The Isle of Wight Defense League, a newly formed citizens group opposing the hog farms, met Monday night for the third time to discuss how county residents can win back the land from the hog farmers.
The group plans to address the Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Isle of Wight Courthouse. A public hearing is scheduled for Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the courthouse.
Fifteen people listened Monday as the group's lawyer, Stephen Merrill, a Windsor resident, said he would challenge the permits in court. ``Our goal is to preserve the way of life here,'' Merrill said, ``and that doesn't include a million hogs and millions and millions of gallons of animal waste spread across the countryside.''
Merrill said the group fears the hog farms would devalue surrounding land, destroy the water table in the county and create an unbearable stench. He said he plans to challenge the permits on environmental grounds. And in the case of Henry Pulley's application, he said, the ownership of the land might be contested in court.
Merrill said Marvin Pulley, an uncle to Henry Pulley, is challenging the ownership of the land. The owner is listed as George Pulley, Henry Pulley's father.
Merrill said Marvin Pulley does not want the hog farm built because it would devalue his $100,000 home.
Marvin Pulley refused to comment on the issue Monday.
Merrill said that in North Carolina, where Carroll Foods has 20 company-owned and 12 contract-operated farms, ``It's an environmental and land-value disaster. North Carolina has put up $100,000 to determine what can be done about the odor.''
Adolf Miller Jr., general manager for Carroll Foods of Virginia Inc., called the smell ``minimal.''
``It doesn't smell that bad to me,'' he said. ``It's not the overpowering thing that some people portray it to be.''
Taylor, who plans to increase his farm from 500 to 1,700 hogs, agrees. He said a smell can be noted only on occasion.
Five company-operated hog farms already are operating in Isle of Wight - with 48,000 hogs all at one location on Virginia Route 621 - and there have been few complaints, Miller said.
``If it's agriculturally zoned land,'' Miller said, ``then why can't it be used for agriculture purposes?''
The zoning issue may be the biggest hurdle the group faces as the clock ticks toward and April 1995 deadline, when a new right-to-farm bill goes into effect.
The bill, signed by Gov. George F. Allen on July 7, requires localities to redraw their rezoning measures by April 1 to remove any requirements for special-use permits for livestock operations in areas already zoned for agriculture use.
The bill also strengthens farmer protection against nuisance complaints by neighbors.
``That means we'd have a pig farm whether we like it or not,'' Merrill said. ILLUSTRATION: Map
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