Jeremy Prinzen addresses Prince Edward County council. (Photo: Amanda Smith/Quinte News)
Against the wishes of many residents living along Victoria Road in Prince Edward County, county council has approved a severance that
would allow a new chicken growing operation on the road.
County staff had recommended approving a severance, saying the chicken barn met all provincial and local regulations.
The issue came before council on Tuesday night to sever a portion of land to create a new lot.
Jeremy Prinzen, the potential owner of the new land, is hoping to build a new broiler barn to house 28,000 chickens.
There were five deputations against the approval of the construction of the barn.
Annette McIntosh told those in the packed council chambers there are a number of questions that need to be answered like how many jobs will be created, how will the sick and dead chickens be disposed of and what are the plans to dispose of the manure.
Angela Lammes called it bad optics.
Patti Parks lives directly across from the proposed farm and says she would be forced to inhale the toxins from the farming operation.
It’s an issue that has led to distrust between neighbours.
Mayor Robert Quaiff said everything conformed to their legal requirements.
Prinzen said he isn’t even sure the land can support the chicken barn yet as there is more information he needs to gather first.
He would need to make sure there is enough water available to support the barn. He said at their peak, they would require 1.5 gallons a minute which isn’t a lot of water.
A Nutrient Management Plan for the proposed broiler barn was approved by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in November.
In accordance with the Nutrient Management Plan approved by OMAFRA, all manure associated with the broiler barn will be moved off site and sold to agricultural operations in the area. Manure will be loaded onto trucks as
the barn is cleaned out.
Prinzen says they are required to have the manure on site for no more than 14 days but he says that won’t happen as the waste will be removed off site much faster than that.
Current owner of the land, Ben Thompson says he wants to sell the land simply so he can retire.
Commissioner of Engineering, Development and Works Robert McAuley told those around the horseshoe the land is already zoned to permit a chicken barn.
Council attempted to add hydro-geological testing to the motion to make sure there is enough water to support the chicken barn and make sure neighbouring water sources such as wells and the water source behind the property aren’t affected, but it failed.
The motion to also get the barn set back 750 feet from the next closest well also failed.
