THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 16, 1994 TAG: 9412160576
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Thursday to approve a controversial zoning ordinance that would require large-production hog farms to be set back from public roads, residential property and some businesses.
The supervisors' action came despite the opposition of residents who say the ordinance is not strict enough. Hog farms, they say, generate bad odors and pollution and decrease land values.
The city of Norfolk also has raised concerns about allowing more hog farms, saying pollution from them could threaten the purity of drinking water for thousands of Hampton Roads residents.
Norfolk has large reservoirs on the Western Branch of the Nansemond River, near Isle of Wight's borders. The city also gets some of its water from the Blackwater River, which runs through the southern end of the county.
The city is worried about the type of bacteria that contaminated Milwaukee's water supply in April 1993. That outbreak made 400,000 people ill and caused more than 100 deaths.
Stephen Merrill, a Norfolk lawyer who lives in Isle of Wight and heads the Citizens Defense League, said the ordinance's setback requirements are not enough.
``There is simply no chance that the citizens of Isle of Wight are going to get any protection from odor, pollution and land-value degradation from this ordinance,'' Merrill said at Thursday's meeting. ``What we've got is minimal setbacks that, incredibly, include waste lagoons from animals only a thousand feet away from public highways.''
The supervisors later agreed to appoint committees to meet with both the Defense League and with Norfolk officials.
Chairman O.A. Spady said that without the ordinance, the county would have no restrictions on hog farms in residential and business areas. The ordinance would not restrict the farms in agricultural areas.
Supervisor Lud Lorenzo Spivey of Windsor voted against the ordinance, citing concerns about health issues.
But Supervisor Malcolm Cofer of the Smithfield District defended the county's agricultural environment.
``We wanted an agricultural county,'' he said. ``I think the hog farms are doing a service by bringing the hogs out of the old-fashioned feed lots and out of the swamps.'' by CNB