Sevier County Unincorporated
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
CONCENTRATED ANIMAL
FEEDING OPERATIONS LOCATED IN I-A ZONES
§ 154.305 DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATION (AFO). A lot or facility where the following conditions are met:
(1) Animals have been, are or will be stabled or confined and fed or maintained for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period; and
(2) Crops, vegetation, forage growth or post-harvest residues are not sustained in the normal growing season over any portion of the lot or facility.
COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE.
(1) Means a building:
(a) Used as a part of a business that manufactures goods, delivers services or sells goods or services;
(b) Customarily and regularly used by the general public during the entire calendar year; and
(c) Connected to electric or water systems.
(2) A COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE does not include an agriculture operation.
COMPREHENSIVE NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT PLAN (CNMP). The objective of a CNMP is to provide AFO owners/operators with a plan to manage manure and organic by-products by combining conservation practices and management activities into a conservation system that, when implemented, will control soil erosion.
EDUCATION INSTITUTION. A building in which any part is used:
(1) For more than three hours each weekday during a school year as a public or private:
(a) Elementary school;
(b) Secondary school; or
(c) Kindergarten.
(2) A state institution of higher education as defined in U.C.A. § 53B-3-102; or
(3) A private institution of higher education in the state accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
EXISTING DWELLING. A single- or multi-family dwelling that was previously constructed or under construction prior to the submission of an application for a CAFO.
HEALTH CARE FACILITY. The same as that term is defined in U.C.A. § 26-21-2.
LARGE CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATION (CAFO). An animal feeding operation that stables or confines as many as or more than the numbers of animals specified in any of the following categories:
(1) Seven hundred mature dairy cows, whether milked or dry;
(2) One thousand veal calves;
(3) One thousand cattle, other than mature dairy cows or veal calves, with “cattle” including heifers, steers, bulls and cow calf pairs;
(4) Two thousand five hundred swine, each weighing 55 pounds or more;
(5) Ten thousand swine, each weighing less than 55 pounds;
(6) Five hundred horses;
(7) Ten thousand sheep or lambs;
(8) Fifty-five thousand turkeys;
(9) Thirty thousand laying hens or broilers, if the animal feeding operation uses a liquid manure handling system;
(10) One hundred twenty-five thousand chickens, other than laying hens, if the animal feeding operation uses other than a liquid manure handling system;
(11) Eighty-two thousand laying hens, if the animal feeding operation uses other than a liquid manure handling system;
(12) Thirty thousand ducks, if the animal feeding operation uses other than a liquid manure handling system; or
(13) Five thousand ducks, if the animal feeding operation uses a liquid manure handling system.
MANURE. Includes manure, bedding, compost, a raw material or other material commingled with manure or set aside for disposal.
PUBLIC AREA. Land that:
(1) Is owned by the federal government, the state or a political subdivision with facilities that attract the public to congregate and remain in the area for significant periods of time;
(2) (a) Is part of a public park, preserve or recreation area that is owned or managed by the federal government, the state, a political subdivision or a non-governmental entity; and
(b) Has a cultural, archaeological, scientific or historic significance or contains a rare or valuable ecological system, including a site recognized as a national historic landmark or site; or
(3) Is a cemetery.
RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION. A building and grounds used at least monthly for religious services or ceremonies.
(Ord. 2022, passed - -)
§ 154.306 COMPREHENSIVE NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT PLAN.
A CNMP is a conservation plan for any AFO or CAFO which:
(A) Must include the following:
(1) The production area, including the animal confinement, feed and other raw materials storage areas, animal mortality facilities and the manure handling containment or storage areas;
(2) The land treatment area, including any land under control of the AFO owner or operator, whether it is owned, rented or leased, and to which manure or processed wastewater is, or might be, applied for crop, hay, pasture production or other uses; and
(3) An explanation for prevailing winds and topography of the area.
(B) Meets Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) FOTG § III quality criteria for Water Quality (nutrients, organics and sediments in surface and groundwater) and Soil Erosion (sheet and rill, wind, ephemeral gully, classic gully and irrigation induced natural resource concerns on the production area and land treatment area);
(C) Mitigates, if feasible, any excessive air emissions and/or negative impacts to air quality resource concerns that may result from practices identified in the CNMP or from existing on-farm areas/activities;
(D) Complies with federal, state, tribal and local laws, regulations and permit requirements; and
(E) Satisfies the owner/operator’s production objectives.
(Ord. 2022, passed - -)
§ 154.307 CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT REQUIRED.
(A) Large concentrated animal feeding operations as defined by the Large CAFO Act may be approved as a conditional use in the Intensive Agricultural (I-A) Zone Districts within the unincorporated areas of the county.
(B) Applications for conditional use permits to operate such facilities in the Intensive Agricultural (I-A) Zoning Districts shall proceed using the processes, application fees and administrative remedies established in this chapter.
(Ord. 2022, passed - -)
§ 154.308 REGULATIONS.
(A) Unless specifically permitted by the County Commission, a CAFO or AFO as outlined in division (A)(2) below shall not be approved in the unincorporated areas of the county unless said operations comply with the following.
(1) No CAFO shall be constructed within:
(a) Five miles or 26,400 feet of any municipal boundary;
(b) Three miles or 15,840 feet from any:
1. Existing dwelling;
2. Residential, residential estates or forest recreation area;
3. Health care facility;
4. Public area;
5. Education institution;
6. Religious institution; and
7. Commercial enterprise.
(c) One mile or 5,280 feet from any state highway or County Class B Paved Road.
(2) AFOs consisting of dead animals, manure storage or other operations with excessive air emissions and/or negative impacts to air and water quality resource concerns shall be subject to the requirements of division (A)(1) above.
(3) (a) 1. Any CAFO or AFO as outlined in division (A)(2) above shall satisfy the requirements of the county CAFO application prior to approval of the County Planning Commission and County Commission.
2. The application shall consist of an overall development plan including:
a. The distance from existing dwellings and municipal boundaries;
b. The number and type of animal units;
c. A completed CNMP; and
d. A mitigation plan addressing negative impacts to adjacent property values, local residents’ quality of life and how the CAFO plans to mitigate said impacts.
(b) If a CAFO consists of multiple individuals and/or entities, all individuals and/or entities shall be included in one CAFO Application and divisions (A)(1), (A)(2), (A)(3) and (A)(4) shall include the entire operation.
(4) CAFO and AFO operations must comply with divisions (A)(1), (A)(2) and (A)(3) above and the following.
(a) Prevailing wind provision. Upon showing by a conditional use permit applicant, the Planning Commission, by convincing evidence that there is a historical prevailing wind, may off-set the separation distance sphere by as much as 50%. However, the off-sets shall not decrease the area within the separation distance. The shape and size of the separation area shall remain constant. This provision allows only for the shifting of the separation area sphere to the downwind direction by as much as 50%.
(b) Public health, safety, welfare and water/air quality. CAFO operation owners must take actions to minimize water/air pollution and public health and safety impacts from confinement and waste treatment facilities. To accomplish this goal and as part of the conditional use permit required by all CAFO and AFO operations, the CAFO operation owner shall be required to develop and implement technically sound, economically feasible and site-specific comprehensive nutrient management plans (CNMPs) in accordance with the latest technical guidance of the natural resources conservation service. Additionally, CAFO operations shall be required to obtain a state pollutant discharge elimination system (UPDES) general approval for concentrated animal feeding operations (Permit No. UTG080000), issued by the State Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). In the event that the State Department of Environmental Quality is unable or unwilling to accept a UPDES permit application, the County Planning Commission shall require as a condition of the conditional use permit, standards equal to that required by UPDES Permit No. UTG080000 and reviewed by an engineer selected and agreed upon mutually by the applicant and the County Planning Commission, and paid for by the applicant. All CAFO operations shall prepare a “Best Management Plan for Odor Control,” required by this chapter, as part of the CUP application process. All CAFO operations must use the best wastewater treatment technology available at the time of permitting to protect the public health, safety, welfare and water/air quality. Best wastewater treatment technology puts primary emphasis on the prevention of groundwater contamination, control of air contaminants and odors. The county recognizes that the swine industry, government and society are taking steps to develop and implement new technology that will protect the environment and the economy. The county has determined that open-air anaerobic lagoons are not considered adequate wastewater treatment technology for large swine operations. The intent of this provision is to require superior waste disposal technologies to be described as “best available technology” as accepted by the State Department of Environmental Quality.
(B) The County Planning Commission and County Commission shall approve a CAFO application if said application satisfies all the requirements of this subchapter.
(Ord. 2022, passed - -)
§ 154.309 APPEALS.
Any person with standing aggrieved by any decision of the Planning Commission shall have the right to make such appeals as provided by the county zoning ordinance or state law. Such appeals shall be based on the record. Appeal of Planning Commission decisions shall be to the Board of County Commissioners. Appeals shall be in writing and shall be filed with the Clerk’s Office not more than 30 days after the decision by the Planning Commission. The County Commission may affirm, modify or reverse the decision of the Planning Commission. Appeal review by the Board of County Commissioners shall be recorded in an open public meeting. County Commission decisions shall be final.
(Ord. 2022, passed - -)
§ 154.310 PERMITS AND FEES.
(A) Permits. From the effective date of this subchapter, the Zoning Administrator shall not grant a permit, nor shall any officer of the county grant any license or permit for the use of any land or the construction or alteration of any building or structure on a parcel which would be in violation of any provisions of this subchapter, or this chapter until the CAFO application has been approved as required by this subchapter. Any license or permit issued in conflict with such provisions shall be null and void.
(B) Fees. At the time of filing, a non-refundable fee shall be submitted, payable to the county, in accordance with the currently adopted fee schedule as adopted by the County Commission by resolution. Outside of any cost or fee resulting from a CAFO application, including, but not limited to, inspections, surveys, studies and the like, shall be the responsibility of the CAFO applicant.
(Ord. 2022, passed - -)
§ 154.999 PENALTY.
(A) Any person violating any provision of this chapter for which no specific penalty is prescribed shall be subject to § 10.99 of this code of ordinances.
(B) Any person, firm or corporation, whether as principal, agent, employee or otherwise, who shall erect, construct or reconstruct or alter any building or structure in any zone of the unincorporated area of the county without first obtaining the appropriate permit from the County Building Inspector shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor, and any person, firm or corporation, whether as principal, agent, employee or otherwise, who shall change the use of any building or other structure or the use of any land within the unincorporated territory of the county in violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished and fined pursuant to the provisions of the Utah Code Annotated. Such person, firm or corporation violating this chapter or any portion thereof shall be deemed to be guilty of a separate offense for each and every day during which such violation is committed, continued or permitted by such person, firm or corporation and shall be punishable as provided by law as a separate offense.
(Ord. 2022, passed - -; Ord. 2024-5-3, passed 5-13-2024)