Dayton Rural Preservation Society
Supporting the preservation of rural farmland in HoCo, Md
Our Concerns: Industrial Mulch Bill CB 20-2017 Reversing CB-20-2014?
Our Concerns:
Industrial Mulch Bill CB 20-2017
Reversing CB-20-2014?
Here are our MAJOR
concerns with CB60
NO restrictions on use or scale
NO restrictions on amount of mulch/compost/wood waste in or
out of the facility
NO restrictions on commercial sale of any kind
ENDLESS/LIMITLESS trucking in and out of wood waste into the
facility (18-wheeler tractor-trailers and 3-axle large commercial trucks)
ENDLESS/LIMITLESS mulch or compost trucked out after
industrial processing at the facility (18-wheeler tractor-trailers and 3-axle
large commercial trucks)
NO requirement to be associated with tree farming or
legitimate farming of ANY kind
NO restriction on size or frequency of trucks in and out of
the facility all day long
NO restrictions on State of MD ag farmland (MALPF)
ALLOWS for retail sale on site at the facility
ALLOWS for Tier I and Tier II composting, which means on Howard County ag, RR and RC composting of grass, leaves, food waste, manure and in some case animal carcasses is allowed (3-5 acres near you).
NO ability for DPZ to enforce CB60 for mulching/composting
given what it allows (unacceptable). DPZ has shown an inability to enforce, or
has chosen to exercise selective enforcement discretion, for even clear
violators of CB20. To expect anything more from DPZ would be ridiculous (how
can they distinguish between mulch and compost when they admit they can’t even
measure/enforce something as simple as mulch pile height).
PHOTOS: Illegal wood waste trucking materials in and out and not using on the farm and not from the farm but an industrial M1/M2 operation on farmland in Woodbine, MD on the watch of County Executive Kittleman who has not had DPZ enforce CB 20-2014 in the last two years! This is not the definition of farming!
The Mulch Facility Proposal that started it all... This industrial business owner Bob Orndorff (RLO Contractors) still owns the farmland he purchased a few years ago and tried to turn into an industrial mulching and composting area on Ag Preserve farmland. If he tries in some way to become a "tree farmer", he will be able to use his newly acquired farmland in Dayton for storage of mulch or recycling mulch, etc... according to County Executive Kittleman and County Councilman Fox's CB 60-2017 they want to pass into law this summer. We cannot let industrial business owners buy farms and pretend to be tree farmers only to use the land to further their industrial business interests which bring in heavy truck traffic, cause safety concerns on small windy rural roads, pose health risks, fire risks and contamination to our natural resources.
The Mulch Facility Proposal that started it all...
This industrial business owner Bob Orndorff (RLO Contractors) still owns the farmland he purchased a few years ago and tried to turn into an industrial mulching and composting area on Ag Preserve farmland.
If he tries in some way to become a "tree farmer", he will be able to use his newly acquired farmland in Dayton for storage of mulch or recycling mulch, etc... according to County Executive Kittleman and County Councilman Fox's CB 60-2017 they want to pass into law this summer.
We cannot let industrial business owners buy farms and pretend to be tree farmers only to use the land to further their industrial business interests which bring in heavy truck traffic, cause safety concerns on small windy rural roads, pose health risks, fire risks and contamination to our natural resources.
We successfully killed his plan to move industrial mulching to farmland with CB 20-2014. We cannot allow it to come to Dayton in a new form!
Proposed Project by JBRK, LLC:
- Buy the Muth (Brown) Farm as a means to construct a Mulch Manufacturing, Soil Processing and Composting Facility as an "allowed conditional use" (Note: Farm was placed in Agricultural Preservation in 1991 for perpetuity.)
- Utilize 16 acres for Industrial Equipment and Facilities (allowed for under new zoning laws in lieu of 1 acre in the previous zoning laws).
- Build a new road through the farm off Green Bridge Road.
- Run grinding machines and up to 50 large trucks a day in and out of facility; compost, mulch, topsoil.
- Let neighboring farmers farm the remaining land.
Why was this Project Proposed in Dayton?
Existing RLO Corporation Mulching Facility in Elkridge, Maryland is currently zoned Industrial but will soon be zoned Residential. Now hoping to move to Dayton in Ag Pres and DRPS does not view this as the type of farming activity the new zoning laws intended. DRPS would instead like to see JRBK keep these type of facilities in industrial areas.
Community Concerns:
- Scenic farms replaced with industrial facilities
- Traffic issues caused by up to 50 trucks a day and up to 100 employees entering site
- Safety on our small residential roads for children, joggers, cyclists, residential traffic, etc...
- Noise from large grinding machines
- Environmental: Well and Water Contamination
- Carcinogenic Wood Dust, Fine Particles that can be in our air over long distances affecting residents
- Mulch Fires are possible causing safety concerns with homes just hundreds of feet away and wooded areas
- Home Values declining due to the above
- All of Howard County agricultural preservation land will be susceptible
In response to the JBRK LLC proposed project:
"We think it has no use
in rural Dayton," said John Tegeris, President of the Dayton
Rural Preservation Society, LLC, a group formed to fight the composting
facility. "We are going to fight this thing, he said, even if it takes us
multiple levels, multiple years through the process to win this for the
community." ~ Baltimore Sun, Amanda Yeager, 2.21.14
What's Next? Hearing and Legal Process
- 2.28.14 -- DRPS LLC filed a Zoning Regulation Amendment requesting the Howard County Council to restore prior zoning regulations (recently changed) that would not have allowed the industrial mulch facility under conditional use on agricultural preservation farmland
- Councilman Greg Fox intends to file a similar zoning regulation amendment the first week of March 2014
- According to the Howard County Times article on 2.27.14, attorney Sang Oh representing JBRK LLC will submit a petition for Conditional Use Hearing likely after seeing what happens with the proposed zoning regulation amendments
- If RLO Contractors submit a petition for a Conditional Use Hearing,
- Howard Co Zoning Dept will forward to independent hearing examiner with recommendation
- Hearing Examiner will hold hearing similar to a court case
- Outcome may be appealed to a board appointed by Howard Co Council (new hearing)
- Outcome may be appealed on legal grounds only to County Circuit Court
- Outcome may be appealed on legal grounds only to State Court of Appeals in Annapolis
- Process can go from months to years
- We have filed a petition for a zoning amendment to change the recently amended laws that have allowed for big industry on our rural lands.
.JPG)
View of Dayton, Maryland Farm with Proposed Mulch Facility
13 acres of compost windrows proposed for Dayton facility
5034 Green Bridge Rd, Dayton, md
MULCH FIRES:
Watch the below video showing a spontaneous mulch fire in 2013 in Maryland at a site in Upper Marlboro. Fortunately, this industrial site was on a landfill and not hundreds of feet from residents as the Dayton proposed industrial mulch facility would be.
Watch the below video showing a spontaneous mulch fire in 2013 in Maryland at a site in Upper Marlboro. Fortunately, this industrial site was on a landfill and not hundreds of feet from residents as the Dayton proposed industrial mulch facility would be.
