From opponents of the Greenwood slaughterhouse:
AMATEUR SLAUGHTERHOUSE PLANS DISRUPT McHENRY COUNTY NEIGHBORHOODS
Residents from Numerous Wonder Lake Subdivisions Continue to Fight Conditional Use Permit
Woodstock, Illinois – Opponents to a proposed slaughterhouse in Greenwood Township twice filled an expanded McHenry County Government conference room during a Zoning Board of Appeals Hearing on the issue, with an excess of one hundred residents in attendance.
Lake Zurich resident Sergiy Bazylyuk is a landowner and farmer with retail stores in Mundelein
and Skokie.
Bazylyuk has applied for a conditional use permit to open his first slaughterhouse with meat processing on a landlocked agricultural zoned parcel in Greenwood Township.
The parcel is contiguous to two Wonder Lake residential subdivisions and is located within the Nippersink Creek Watershed—the creek flows through Wonder Lake, Glacial Park, Chain ‘O Lakes and Fox River.
During the hearing, which has been continued twice to allow additional time for public questioning and testimony, concerns were brought to the Petitioner and Zoning Board of Appeals.
“I’m concerned about odor and quality of life for students,” said Jill Ferretti, a Deerpath subdivision resident and speech pathologist for D-47 schools.
“Preschool for All classes and the Target Program at Greenwood Elementary are specialized self-classrooms for medically complicated or fragile children and children with autism,” Jill Ferretti stated.
“These are children who are at higher risk for respiratory problems.
“The proposed slaughterhouse would be located .8 mile from Greenwood Elementary School.”
During the May 28th portion of the hearing, Attorney for the slaughterhouse opponents Thomas Burney argued, “[McHenry County] ought to get the rules really finely honed in– in terms of how these [agricultural zoned slaughterhouses] are going to operate before this county embarks on this journey of creating self-contained slaughtering operations on its farms.”
McHenry County is home to one slaughterhouse, located in Marengo on an industrial zoned parcel.
On June 17th the McHenry County Board voted 13-5 to allow a conditional use permit for a new slaughterhouse on an agricultural parcel located in Hartland Township near Valley Hi Nursing Home.
Both proposed agricultural zoned slaughterhouses will not supply poultry or meat to retail stores in McHenry County according to hearing testimony.
Kelly Liebmann, a Wonder Lake resident has more questions after five hours of testimony than prior to the hearing.
“There is an agricultural employee residence within 250 feet of the proposed Greenwood slaughter facility. The Unified Development Ordinance clearly states, ‘No animal slaughter operation may be located on a parcel within five hundred feet of any residential structure located in an agricultural zoning district.’”
Liebmann elaborated, “We must protect immigrant workers that may work at the facility. We do not need a present day ‘Animal Farm’ in McHenry County.”
Opponents also argue McHenry County is a conservation county, and the conditional use permit and zoning variance will only benefit the petitioner and not McHenry County residents.
