December 05, 2007 09:21 pm
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By Melissa Dunson
mdunson@joplinglobe.com
LAMAR, Mo. — Judge Carl Gum in Barton County Circuit Court has ruled in favor of hog farm Kenoma LLC and against the Richland Township Board.
According to a ruling Gum signed Monday and released Wednesday, the 2,400-hog farm has the right to operate, even if those operations violate the township’s zoning regulations that were adopted in April in an attempt to limit large, commercial farms.
The judge, who was appointed to hear the case after Circuit Judge James Bickel bowed out because of a prior commitment, cited a zoning exemption for “farm structures,” and an alleged violation of the Missouri Sunshine Law by the township board and zoning board as reasons for his ruling.
Francis Forst, owner of Kenoma LLC, was so confident he would get a ruling in his favor that he continued work on the $3 million hog farm even after the lawsuit was filed by the township. The breeding and birthing operation is on track to crank up in March.
“It’s a very good day for agriculture in Barton County,” Forst told the Globe on Wednesday. “I appreciate our legal system that protects what I can do on my private property.”
Zach McGuire, a member of the Richland Township Zoning Board, had not heard about the judge’s ruling when the Globe contacted him Wednesday afternoon, and said he did not have any comment.
Bruce Gardner, chairman of the township’s board, said the board hadn’t discussed the ruling or whether the township would appeal.
“I thought our attorney did a better job representing the case than their (attorney) did, but I’m not going to make a comment on the ruling until I can read it for myself,” Gardner said.
Attorney Robert Brundage, of Jefferson City, represented Kenoma in the case, and John Price, of Springfield, represented Richland Township.
No authority
Gum, a senior judge who works via appointment by the Missouri Supreme Court, ruled in line with a similar case in 1997 in Putnam County. In that case, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that a township did not have the authority under Missouri law to regulate agricultural structures.
Gum wrote that his ruling “rejects plaintiff’s argument that it is regulating hog densities rather than farm structures. By regulating the number of hogs, whether confined or unconfined, plaintiff is regulating farm structures housing confined hogs.”
In the Putnam County case, the Supreme Court found that “farming,” “farm buildings” and “farm structures” included the raising of livestock, so the hog barns and sewage lagoons were exempt from zoning laws.
Kenoma plans to house 2,400 hogs in three barns on 30 acres of land. The township’s zoning handbook prohibits concentrated livestock operations or feedlots where at least 800 hogs are raised on less than 160 acres. The regulations require that all sewage lagoons and concentrated animal feeding operations be at least a mile from any homes, and that they be screened from public view.
Gum, who formerly was a judge in the 17th Judicial Circuit of Cass and Johnson counties, wrote that Richland Township did not prove that it had clear and unambiguous authority to regulate Kenoma’s operations, and therefore, the judge must rule in favor of the hog farm.
Gum also ruled that the township’s zoning handbooks are void and unenforceable because the board allegedly violated the Sunshine Law and couldn’t prove that it had met the requirements for notification of public meetings.
The record shows that on several occasions, the township board and/or zoning board did not post public notices of meetings or hearings at which the zoning ordinance was to be discussed the full 15 days in advance, as required by state law pertaining to townships.
In addition, the notices that were posted, the judge ruled, violated the Sunshine Law in that they were not always in a public place or did not list any zoning discussion on the agendas.
The township’s attorney contended that the boards “substantially complied” with the public-meeting requirements, so the judge should not throw out the entire handbook because of some oversight. Gum did not agree, and in his ruling wrote, “The enactment of a zoning ordinance must strictly comply with the statutorily prescribed notice and hearing requirements in order to be valid and enforceable.”
According to the judgment, the township board is responsible for paying the court costs related to the case.
Background
In April, 81 percent of the 206 Richland Township residents who cast ballots voted to enact zoning regulations amid rumors that a large hog farm was moving into the community near Lamar. Kenoma LLC started work on the 2,400-hog farm in June, and the township sued the company in July, alleging that it was violating the township’s zoning rules.
Kenoma is a farmer-owned company that contracts with Synergy, a pork-producing company with offices in Lamar and Sully, Iowa. Kenoma plans to raise nursery pigs to be finished in Iowa. Kenoma owns the structures and employs workers, but Synergy owns the pigs.
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