Wellington residents want to stop poultry plant

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

Petitions started circulating in Wellington on Aug. 21 as residents attempt to overturn a town board decision that lets a chicken processing facility locate in a business park on the north side of town.

Organizers of the petition drive, who live in northwest Wellington's Buffalo Creek Subdivision, told the town board at two public hearings that a slaughtering facility does not belong in that area. After the second hearing, on July 28, the board voted 4-3 to give Northern Colorado Poultry conditional use approval to put the facility in the northeast corner of Boxelder Business Park located just south of County Road 66.

Heidi Heinrich, spokesperson for the petitioners, said she fears the stigma of a slaughtering plant near homes, and she is concerned that residential property values will decline.

"I've lived in many different states," she said, "and I've never seen light industrial or industrial back up to a residential area. Usually there's a buffer."

In this case, a long and thin parcel called Buffalo Creek Park falls between the homes and the light industrial zone, but the public park is mostly undeveloped and has no design plan.

"There are no trees in the park to block the view from the residents," Heinrich pointed out.

Northern Colorado Poultry currently has a processing plant near Nunn in Weld County, but it wants to expand, which will require municipal water and sewer. The company also wants to have a retail outlet for sale of meat and eggs.

"We're an agricultural business trying to survive in an agricultural town," said NCP co-owner Bill Beilhartz, who lives in Wellington.

Beilhartz added that the company is proceeding with construction of a 4,200-square-foot building for the new location.

State law outlines how citizens can use the referendum process to force an elected board to reconsider its vote. If the town board continues to support the processing plant, then the matter goes to an election. Each step of the process and various timelines are laid out in state law.

The petitioners have until Sept. 3 to turn in 179 or more valid signatures from Wellington registered voters. Heinrich said they will at least double that amount to allow for signatures that might not be validated by the town clerk. Town administrator Larry Lorentzen also serves as town clerk.

According to the county's election department, Wellington has a combined list of 3,564 active and inactive registered voters. For the referendum to proceed, petitions must be signed by 5 percent of electors.

When opponents of the processing plant circulated petitions before the town board's public hearing, they collected 442 signatures, mostly from Buffalo Creek, Three Silos and Wellington Pointe subdivisions on the west side of town.

If there are enough valid signatures for the referendum, the town board will first be asked to repeal the ordinance that granted the conditional use. The petition lists the 10 conditions placed on the business as part of the approval process. Among them are an upper processing limit of 1,500 birds a day.

Other conditions include: Waste hauled away daily. Adequate grease trap. Birds to be put inside when delivered with no ouside enclosures for birds. Hours of operation - 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Control of flies. Comply with all nuisance control by town for odor, noise, trash, etc. Town has right to inspect premises.

If the town board does not repeal the ordinance, an election has to be scheduled within 60 to 150 days. It would likely take place in December, Lorentzen said, because the regular municipal election in April would not meet the time requirement.

Minutes of previous town board and planning commission meetings are available online at www.townofwellington.com. Coverage of past public hearings is available online at www.thewellingtonweekly.com under "news."

1999 referendum

Wellington last held an election by referendum in November 1999. A group called Citizens for Responsible Growth in Wellington wanted to overturn the annexation of 144 acres east of Interstate 25.

Wellington had 1,405 registered voters at the time. Town residents upheld the annexation decision with a close vote of 225-190.