Wicomico board finds zoning administrator met initial burden in appeal over Rosewood Farm biorefinery; hearing continues

WICOMICO COUNTY — The Wicomico County board presiding over a zoning appeal on a proposed biorefinery at Rosewood Farm found on the record that the county zoning administrator met the initial burden of proof, and the hearing continued with testimony from the applicant.

The decision on the burden was made after argument over disputed exhibits lodged by interested parties and a discussion of whether the proposed operation is an agricultural use or a more intensive industrial process. Board member James Turner moved to find the zoning administrator had met his initial burden of proof; the motion carried after the board called for aye votes.

The finding means the burden of persuasion shifted to the applicant, Katheria Farms, which then called owner Rajnish Katheria to describe the planned pilot operation. Katheria testified the project is a one‑year demonstration funded in part by grants and that the equipment — provided by the equipment manufacturer International Bio Refineries — would thermally process poultry litter produced on site into biochar, a soil amendment, while recovering bio‑oil and syngas that would be burned on‑site to…