01/04/2026
For context from the owner,
We do not dispute any of what the township has posted here. In fact, every concerned resident who has asked why the township shut us down has been told just that, our building was constructed under and agricultural exemption and the small portion being used to package agricultural products needs to be permitted commercial.
Our dispute is with how this process has been handled.
We constructed a 3,600 sqft barn under an agricultural exemption for the primary purpose of housing livestock and farming equipment and considered the possibility of processing our own livestock one day. While the township did advise that a facility constructed to process and sell meat would require a commercial permit, not an agricultural exemption, we were still unsure of our exact plans only that we needed a barn for our livestock.
Much of the confusion with this entire mess revolves around the definition of CUSTOM butchering vs. USDA Commercial butchering. We are a CUSTOM butcher shop ie. We are not open to the general public, nor do we sell packed meat for direct consumption. We are licensed by the Department of Agriculture and considered a branch of farming, not a commercial business. If you’re not confused already enough, please reference Greene Townships own definition of Agricultural Use listed in their bi-laws:
Agriculture Use- as defined- “An enterprise that is actively engaged in the commercial production and preparation of goods for market of crops, livestock and livestock products and in the production, harvesting and preparation for market or use of agricultural, agronomic, horticultural, silvicultural and aquacultural crops and commodities. The term includes an enterprise that implements changes in production practices and procedures or types of crops, livestock, livestock products or commodities produced consistent with practices and procedures that are normally engaged by farmers or are consistent with technological development within the agricultural industry. It includes necessary structures within the limits of the parcel and the storage of equipment necessary for production.”
This is not to prove that we were right in this situation but rather to explain where the confusion came from and that while we may have been unsure, misinformed and a little stupid, we were not deceptively criminal.
We are not actively fighting the township on the rules and processes we now understand we must follow to bring our facility into compliance but rather the misinformation we are being fed and the approach the township has taken towards us.
As previously stated, our building is 3,600 sqft. The alleged butcher shop section of the building is only 640 sqft, the rest is used for livestock and agricultural equipment. When we approached the townships building department with the question of how we can apply for a change of use permit in order to bring the front 640 sqft section out of the AG exemption and into commercial compliance, we were told by the supervisor inspector, “you cannot do that and we will never inspect this building you’ll need to rip it all down and build a new one”.
Greene Townships building department had no interest in working with us on the best way forward but rather seemed to take pleasure in our misfortune.
After speaking with the Department of Buildings and Labor we discovered what we already knew what was true, that you can in fact apply for a change of use permit and that it is also very common and permissible according to the UCC regulations to permit a building as mixed use (Commercial/Agricultural).
Last week the Township SEO issued a violation for pressurized water in our building with a notice to comply with excavating along side the foundation to expose and cut the water line feeding the building which we have done.
Our building is currently in compliance and we are now working with the township on a plan to move forward with our business.
A proposal for Greene Township to adopt a Holding Tank Ordinance is now on the agenda for next week’s Board of Supervisors Meeting 1/05. We are asking the township to adopt an ordinance which would allow us to install and use a septic holding tank for our sink waste water to have pumped temporarily until the weather allows us to build a sand-mound and complete our septic build.
During a site visit on 12/8 Greene Townships SEO, Glen Martin advised us that the board of supervisors will not adopt a holding tank ordinance because it exposes the township to all types of potential liability. When I asked him if other nearby townships have holding tank ordinances in place, he replied, no, they are very uncommon.
It turns out that was a lie. Dreher, Sterling and Jefferson townships all have a holding tank ordinance in place.
At a state level, the DEP has approved the use of a holding tank for our application.
After digging several test pits on site with the alternate SEO on 12/15, we confirmed 4 viable drain-field locations our on lot. We know our property will perc.
We are requesting the township consider adopting this very common holding tank ordinance which would allow us to install a septic tank immediately so we can turn our water back on and move to the next stage of compliance.
In addition, we are requesting the township allow us to move forward with the submission of our Land Development application while they consider the holding tank ordinance to save us months in process.
