Update 6/4/2021 -
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Domina Law Group Attorney Brian Jorde is representing residents and others who are against a proposed broiler chicken facility in northwestern Lancaster County that would be built just a mile from Raymond Central local Junior-Senior High School.
Sunset Poultry is appealing a November 2019 decision from the Lancaster County Board denying a permit to build eight barns that would house nearly 400,000 broiler chickens to be raised for a Costco processing plant in Fremont. The Board voted 3-2 to deny the special permit after hearing from neighbors and the Raymond Central School District.
During a hearing in its appeal of that decision on Monday, Sunset Poultry and owners of the farm where the barns would be built argued that it met the standards for a special-use permit and create agricultural jobs.
As reported by the Lincoln Journal Star and 1011 Now, Attorney Brian Jorde said the question at issue isn’t if the application met permit standards, but rather "should this facility be built at this specific location."
At the hearing, he told the District Judge of his intent to present testimony about the concerns of neighbors and the school district. This included concerns related to the use of a “dead shed” that would hold as many as 114,000 dead chickens each year, the amount of water needed to operate the facility, and the impact of heavy traffic on a local gravel road that’s currently only used by a few residents and novice drivers on their way to school.
"It's simply not an intelligent location for this kind of infrastructure," Jorde said.