Carson City Supervisors overturn approval of slaughterhouse

In a 3-2 vote after hours of discussion Thursday night, the Carson City Board of Supervisors overturned the Planning Commission’s December decision to allow an animal processing facility on Highway 50.

Mayor Lori Bagwell and Supervisor Maurice White voted in favor of the Planning Commission, saying it did not err in its approval of Carson Valley Meats application.

Supervisors Stan Jones, Lisa Schuette and Stacey Giomi voted in favor of the appellants, who said a slaughterhouse at that location would not work.

“I envision Highway 50 as the gateway to Carson City. In my opinion, a slaughterhouse will only jeopardize the future growth of that area,” Jones said, opening the board’s deliberation period.

Giomi said he struggled to see how the project would “bring down” the community, but he couldn’t shake concerns about harms to surrounding neighborhoods.

“There were pretty tight controls placed on Tahoe Western Asphalt, and it took us months, years to rectify the situation. And so, as I look at the findings of fact, I struggle with a couple of them,” he said. He partially agreed with the appellants that more information about the project would be helpful in meeting the conditions of approval.

During Planning Commission meetings, Tahoe Western Asphalt was brought into the discussion as an example of the city enforcing conditions of approval. The plant’s special use permit was revoked after residents and city staff found that it produced unpleasant odors.
Schuette shared another concern – the project is based in an area that has historically flooded, and it may lie on a wetland.

“I’ve learned more about harvesting and all of that than I ever thought I would learn or care to know,” she said, concurring that the location was not a good fit for the project type and surrounding neighborhoods.

On the other hand, White cited his personal experiences living next door to an animal raising and processing facility.

“From before the time I was born in 1958, there was a business that shared a property line with the property I have today. I’ve lived on that property since 1958. That business raised, finished, slaughtered, and processed all manner of livestock and poultry. … Nobody even knew it was there,” he said.

He noted that a beauty salon chose to share a property line with the meat processing facility in the 1980s.

“I can’t buy into the perception that we’re having a problem with harming these neighborhoods,” White said.

Bagwell sided with him and struck back at the other member’s arguments. She said it would be unfair to hold Carson Valley Meats to different standards than other businesses, and she did not agree with the concerns that the facility would impact wetlands or cause any objectionable side effects.

“A slaughterhouse can only happen in a General Industrial Zone, so you’re not correct that they can ‘go somewhere else’ in Carson City. It’s not true. This is the area that it’s approved,” she said.

During public comment time, she shared that she lives next door to a slaughterhouse and said the home values in her neighborhood have increased.

Prior to the vote, the appellants Doreen Mack, Jennifer Verive, Robert Buttner, and Kathleen Simmons challenged almost every condition of approval. They said the slaughterhouse would cause noise, odor, and pollution, and it would decrease home values, use more water than stated in the application, and infringe on the enjoyment of surrounding areas.

Carson Valley Meats argued residents wouldn’t even realize the slaughterhouse was there and that operations would follow USDA humane treatment standards.

“There’s no signage. This isn’t – hey, ‘Livestock Slaughtered Here,’” said Chris Baker, a representative with Manhard Consulting.
The chair of the Planning Commission, Charles Borders, also spoke in defense of the Planning Commission’s decision to approve the project.

“I would ask you, as the outgoing chairman of the Planning Commission, to give us the confidence that we would do the right thing. Stick with us,” he said. He added, “I think that the community will learn to tolerate it.”

Some members of the audience audibly groaned and laughed at the word “tolerate.”

Others stuck around for public comment time after the vote to express their disappointment with the decision. Participants in the 4-H program and supporters of the farm-to-table movement have backed Carson Valley Meats’ proposed facility in previous commission meetings.

According to City Manager Nancy Paulson, the Board of Supervisors’ decision is final. Carson Valley Meats will have to appeal to the courts if it wants to fight the decision.

Among other agenda items during the morning portion of the board of supervisors meeting, the board made administrative changes to the municipal code. The District Attorney’s Office is working on a comprehensive review of the code, so attorneys added a preface explaining the format.

“There is an amendment to language, but there is no intended amendment to substance. … The best description of it – it’s a user’s guide to the Carson City Municipal Code,” said Jason Woodbury, district attorney.

The supervisors also heard from the city financial department. They set the property tax rate to $3.57 to prepare the fiscal year 2023 budget.

City Chief Financial Officer Sheri Russell shared her conservative projections for consolidated taxes through June – she expects revenue will decline slightly in the upcoming months.

She reviewed projected General Fund expenditures and ending fund balance. The supervisors are hoping to bring up the ending fund balance to 16 percent over the next years. It would represent a safety net worth two months of city expenditures.

The Regional Transportation Commission and the Carson Area Metropolitan Planning Organization will meet Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in the Robert “Bob” Crowell Board Room of the Community Center, 851 E. William St.

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The Carson City Board of Supervisors met Thursday evening to hear appeals of the Planning Commission’s December decision to approve an application for a slaughterhouse on Highway 50. In a close 3-2 vote after hours of discussion, the board upheld the appeals and overturned the commission’s approval of the slaughterhouse.

Voting to overturn the approval were Stacey Giomi, Lisa Schuette and Stan Jones. 

This story will be updated.