Moratorium call clarified: Brownstown council wants feedlot limit placed around town

BROWNSTOWN

Brownstown Town Council members decided Monday they don’t want to see a moratorium placed on confined animal feeding operations in Jackson County.

“Let’s rescind my request for a countywide moratorium,” council president John Nolting said during a special meeting in the town hall.

Nolting recently asked county commissioners to consider a moratorium but said his request wasn’t for a countywide moratorium.

“I meant a two-mile area around Brownstown,” Nolting said. He told commissioners the town does not have zoning regulations, but the council was working on establishing zoning.

The council recently voted to express its opposition to a local farmer’s plan to build a confined feeding operation for 4,000 head of swine about a mile east of town.

Council members say it’s too close.

The county Board of Zoning Appeals will consider Grant VonDielingen’s request for a special exception to allow the operation south of U.S. 50 during its meeting at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 11 at Brownstown Church of the Nazarene, 616 W. Commerce St.

In early August, the council voted to take the stance that while members didn’t oppose VonDielingen’s operation they opposed the location. Brownstown Chamber of Commerce has taken a similar stance.

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