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Committee approves three-year conditional use for farm milk bottling plant; retail or outside milk would require rezoning
Summary
The committee approved rezoning and a three-year conditional use for a milk bottling plant on Nelson Culp’s farm at Bunker Hill, limited to milk produced on the farm; committee and staff clarified that retail sales or acceptance of outside milk would trigger a commercial rezoning and new review.
The Natural Resources Committee approved rezoning and a three-year conditional-use permit for a milk bottling and wholesale operation on a farm near Bunker Hill, on the condition that only milk produced on the owner’s farm be processed.
Nelson Culp (represented at the meeting by Donnie Mangle) described plans for a pasteurization and bottling plant with holding and cooler tanks, docks for truck loading, and eventual retail space possible in a later phase. The committee’s action allows a wholesale-only facility for three years; township conditions and committee discussion made clear that accepting outside milk or operating an off-farm retail business would require review as a commercial operation and a rezoning from agricultural-forest to commercial.
County staff and the applicant noted multiple regulatory reviews already in process: a septic/holding-tank plan, DNR permitting for waste and dairy-plant regulation, and Department of Agriculture review for food-safety and pasteurization standards. The applicant described holding tanks sized for dairy waste and plans to land-spread or otherwise handle waste consistent with DNR rules.
Committee members queried how many cows and production levels would support the plant; the applicant said the herd is currently about 95 cows and expected to rise toward about 120, with initial plans to bottle roughly 500 gallons per run. The committee also confirmed that notices went to landowners within the 300-foot notification radius and that no opposition was recorded in the packet.
The committee approved the rezoning and conditional use by voice vote with the three-year limitation and the condition that only farm-produced milk be used; staff will monitor compliance and any proposal to accept outside milk or add retail will require a new permit and possible rezoning.
