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A group of residents in the small town of Lodge
secured a win this week in their fight against plans for new corn mill when
the Piatt County zoning board approved a different location.
The residents feared that the 45,000-square-foot
facility and a lagoon for wastewater storage might cause air, noise, and
light pollution and set a precedent for industrial projects in the mostly
rural county [see R.L. Nave, “Tortilla flap,” July 19]. Lynn Clarkson, head of Clarkson Grain, one of the
companies participating in the plant, told zoning officials on Tuesday that
the Lodge petition would be withdrawn if they approved an alternative site
near White Heath.
For the next three-and-a-half hours, White Heath
opponents expressed concerns similar to those articulated by the Lodge
citizens group, including the potential for foul odors and damage to the
area’s water resources. The zoning board ultimately moved to recommend approval to the Piatt
County Board with several conditions, including adherence to environmental
regulations and keeping traffic noise and lighting to a minimum.
Tenna Knox, who owns the land that was first proposed
as the site of the plant, says that she’s disappointed but not upset
at the outcome.
“We were paid for this year. We have not lost
anything,” Knox says. “We came out financially
ahead.”
Knox and her husband, Phil, are on vacation and did
not attend the meeting, but she says that Clarkson informed her earlier
that the White Heath site was more favorable to the company because fewer
people live in the area.
“I think the zoning board sent a message with
their unanimous vote: This is an agricultural community and if it’s
agricultural they are not going to deny it,” Knox says. Knox has said all along that if approval was not
given to the corn mill she and her husband would instead raise pigs, for
which they would not need approval. Neighbors previously expressed that such a move would
be vindictive. However, Angie Wrench, who lives near the Lodge site
and grew up on a hog farm, says that she can live with the pigs. “We’re in the country, so you expect that
kind of thing,” Wrench says.
Contact R.L. Nave at rnave@illinoistimes.com
This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 1, 2007.
