CLEVELAND TOWNSHIP - Several citizens among the 30 in attendance at the Cleveland Township Board of Supervisors Meeting Tuesday night said they believe they were not being taken seriously in relation to their 64-name petition asking for an amendment to the zoning ordinance concerning large-scale animal farms.
"It feels like your minds are made up. How can you reject a petition with 85 percent of the people in the R2 District signing it?" said Johanna Lucid, of Wynn School Road.
However, Solicitor Edward Greco noted, the board has not reviewed the petition and therefore no decision had been made.
"We're not going to pre-judge. We have an inkling of what this is about, but we have not had enough time to digest it," he said.
The petition was spawned when Joel Knoebel, of 110 Center School Road, spread pig manure on his farmland surrounding Wynn School, Middle and Polk roads. The residents approached Cleveland Township supervisors to complain about the "overwhelming" stench and presented a petition to the planning department.
The amendment is to the zoning ordinance that lists agriculture and horticulture as a permitted use within the R2 Residential Medium Density District, which is designated by the township zoning ordinance to provide orderly expansion to residential development.
The amendment would ban a CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) exceeding 100 livestock animals within 500 yards of a residential dwelling in the R2 District.
The petition, which was officially presented to the board of supervisors Tuesday night, was signed by those who say a large-scale pig operation would be detrimental to the health of the residents and the value of their properties.
Supervisor Troy Litwhiler said the state mandates that no local government can pass stricter ordinances than what the state has passed for farmers, but the residents said it didn't apply to a residential district.
Greco, after a few minutes of review of the townships ordinances, informed the residents the petition needed to be notarized before it could be accepted.
At that time, Jody Henry, of Ridge Acres Road, announced she was a notary public and left the meeting to retrieve her tools to notarize the document.
During her absence, residents continued with their comments, with someone calling Knoebel's current pig farm on Center School Road "a dump."
"It is not a dump," Knoebel responded, just one of two times he spoke out during the meeting. "It's a way for me to provide income for my family."
Chairman Henry Doroski said there was no need to discuss the issue further and and instructed they wait for the notary to return, prompting Lucid ask other questions about other issues in the meantime.
Greco said the petition didn't need to be presented during a meeting, but Henry returned moments before the supervisors adjourned to start the job.
The solicitor said the next step is for him to review it and present it to the board, who will then present it to the planning department. Based on their research over the next month, the board can accept or reject the proposed ordinance change at next month's meeting.