Town, farm face off

July 16, 2007 12:00 am

— By Melissa Dunson
mdunson@joplinglobe.com
LAMAR, Mo. — Barton County Circuit Court may have denied the Richland Township’s request for a restraining order against a proposed hog farm challenging local zoning guidelines last week, but community leaders say they will still have their day in court and are confident about their case.
The Richland Township filed a request with the Barton County Circuit Court for a temporary restraining order against Kenoma LLC on July 9. Greg Harris, chairman of the township’s zoning board, said the restraining order would have kept Kenoma from continuing its site work and building any structures.
Judge James Bickel denied the township’s request for a restraining order July 12 based on a problem with the township’s amended planning and zoning handbook, but designated 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1, as the time and date for hearing on a preliminary injunction against Kenoma.
Harris said the board will fix what he calls a “technicality” in the zoning handbook and still believes the township has a strong case.
“We’re very optimistic and consider the temporary restraining order being denied as a very minor consequence by comparison,” Harris said. “We believe we have very enforceable zoning laws. The judge told Kenoma that if they proceed (with construction) they do so at their own risk.”
Harris said he thinks Kenoma is trying to get through the court case based on a technicality, but he hopes the judge will look at the intent of the township voters who passed the zoning resolution.
Francis Forst, owner of Kenoma LLC, said he still believes he is in the right.
History
In April, 81 percent of the 206 voters in the Barton County township east of Golden City approved zoning. With support from an attorney, the township’s zoning resolution was prepared and approved by township officials on May 1. The new zoning rules limit the number of hogs allowed to 800 head for 160 acres.
But three weeks after township zoning was approved and recorded in Barton County, work started on the proposed hog farm. Kenoma plans to hold 2,400 hogs on 11 acres.
In a previous statement to the Globe, Forst said Kenoma is a farmer-owned company that contracts with Synergy, a pork-producing company with offices in Lamar and in Sully, Iowa. Kenoma will breed nursery pigs to be finished in Iowa. He said neither Synergy nor Kenoma has ties with any large corporation or company other than a marketing agreement.
According to Forst, Kenoma would generate $8 million in local economic activity annually, and has already created 30 new jobs and would add another 10 this year.
Court case
The preliminary injunction the township is seeking against Kenoma would maintain the status quo of the operation until a final trial decision.
According to documents filed with the Barton County Circuit Court, the township ultimately wants the judge to issue a permanent injunction against Kenoma that would prohibit it from constructing or operating a hog farm that size.
The court documents list Springfield attorney John Price as representing the Richland Township, and Jefferson City attorney Robert Brundage representing Kenoma.
In support of the township’s case, Price cited myriad court cases establishing the township’s right to enforce zoning and planning in Barton County. The township insists it has the right to enforce these ordinances through a statute that allows it to enact planning and zoning regulations for the purpose of “promoting health, safety, morals, comfort or the general welfare of the unincorporated portion of the township, to conserve and protect property and building values (and) to secure the most economic use of the land.”
The statute does not allow the township to enact planning and zoning to regulate the “erection, maintenance, repair, alteration or extension of farm buildings or farm structures.” In previous court cases, that preclusion swung the verdict in favor of agricultural operations. But the Richland Township insists that this case favors the plaintiffs because the planning and zoning handbook seeks to regulate only the use of the land for agricultural operations, not structures. There isn’t a structure yet in place and the handbook specifically applies to both confined and unconfined hogs.
In its defense, Kenoma cites the infamous court case of Premium Standard Farms Inc. v. Lincoln Township of Putnam County, Mo. In the 1997 case, the court found in favor of a hog farm significantly larger than the proposed Kenoma farm because the judge said the township did not have the authority to enforce zoning laws in the case.
Kenoma says in its documents that the Richland Township’s planning and zoning ordinance is an unlawful attempt to regulate farm structures and what goes on inside farm structures.
“The Richland Township’s attempt to regulate the number of hogs on a defined number of acres is a thinly veiled attempt to circumvent the statutory intent to prevent townships from regulating livestock housed inside barns and farm structures,” Kenoma’s opposition document reads. “It would be an absurd result for the court to rule that a township may not regulate hog barns but may regulate how many hogs may be housed inside a hog barn.”

Expenses
The Richland Township also wants the court to order Kenoma LLC to pay all of the township’s costs and expenses incurred during the litigation.