[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Hartford 11-11-2008. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as "An Ordinance Regulating the
Operation of Slaughtering Houses, Rendering Works and Establishments."
It is adopted pursuant to Town Law § 130(14) and Municipal
Home Rule Law § 10.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
All parts, including viscera of a dead or slaughtered animal.
Any premises where animals are slaughtered, meat is boned
or cut, or meat by-products or meat food products are prepared, produced,
processed or packaged.
Waste parts of no value, especially of a butchered or slaughtered
animal, poultry or fowl.[1]
Any person, firm, corporation or association.
A premises established for the purpose of rendering dead
animals or animal matter, including treatment and processing of dead
animals so as to form and collect by-products, the separation of fat
and tallow from the carcass and melting to glue and other products,
the boiling of bones to be made into fertilizer and the burning of
bristles and cooking of offal.
Refers generally to any public or private establishment where
animals are slaughtered for food, including processing plants engaged
in the slaughtering of poultry for human consumption.
No slaughtering house, rendering works or establishments shall
be operated or maintained within the Town of Hartford, Washington
County, New York, unless and until a permit is issued by the Town
Board authorizing the location, operation and maintenance of the facility.
A.
An application for a slaughtering house, rendering works or establishment
shall be submitted to the Town Board, with copies sent to the Planning
Board.
B.
Upon receipt of the application, the Planning Board shall review
the application to issue findings and recommendations relative to
the location, operation and maintenance of the facility.
C.
In considering the application, the Planning Board shall hold a public
hearing upon notice published once in newspapers circulating within
the Town of Hartford at least 10 days before the date of said hearing.
D.
At the conclusion of the public hearing, the Planning Board shall
issue a report of the findings and recommendations of the Planning
Board and, where applicable, the corresponding site plan approval,
all of which shall be submitted to the Town Board of the Town of Hartford.
E.
The Town Board, after due consideration of the application and materials
submitted therewith, the Planning Board report, and public comment,
shall render a decision to approve, disapprove or approve with conditions
a permit for such facility.
No permit shall be granted for the operation or maintenance
of slaughtering houses, rendering works or establishments, as provided
in this chapter, in the event such premises or any part thereof shall
be within 1,000 feet from any building used for dwelling, school or
church purposes.
A.
Every applicant shall deposit with the Town Clerk of the Town of
Hartford an amount as set from time to time by the Town Board as and
for an application fee pursuant to this chapter. The Town Clerk shall
pay out of said sum the cost of publishing the notice as hereinabove
required.[1]
B.
The Town Board may impose any such reasonable condition necessary
to preserve and protect the health, safety and general welfare of
the community.
C.
The permit issued by the Town Board shall be personal to the applicant
and is nontransferable. If the real property or entity is sold, transferred
or conveyed, the subsequent owner shall apply for a permit.
D.
Permits issued under the provisions of this chapter may be revoked
by the Town Board, after notice and hearing, for any of the following
causes:
A.
Separate from the requirements for obtaining site plan approval from
the Planning Board, any application made to the Town, as herein provided,
shall be accompanied by a sketch or map drawn to scale which shall
indicate the location by roads, streets or highways in which the slaughtering
operations, rendering works or establishments are to be conducted.
B.
There shall also be indicated either on the sketch or a memorandum
attached thereto the distance from the perimeter of said premises
and all buildings within a distance of 1,000 feet from said perimeter,
showing the general use of each of said buildings.
C.
There shall also be submitted as part of said application the plan
and specifications of the building within which the slaughtering operation,
rendering works, or establishments and purposes incidental thereto
shall be carried on, which said plan and specifications shall show
the methods proposed for the disposal of waste and for the sanitary
maintenance of said building. Said application shall also provide
facts relating to the effects of the slaughtering, rendering works,
or establishments' operation or operations on the environment of the
Town of Hartford on forms complying with Article 8 of the Environmental
Conservation Law of the State of New York, SEQR rules and regulations,
6 NYCRR Part 617, State Environmental Quality Review Act, and any
other forms which may be developed by the Planning Board.
Notwithstanding any rules or regulations of the New York State
Department of Health, Department of Agriculture and Markets, and/or
Department of Environmental Conservation now existing or hereafter
promulgated, and in addition thereto, any premises used as a slaughtering
house, rendering works or establishment shall be constructed to comply
with the following specification:
A.
Outdoor storage of animal mortality wastes or any by-product thereof
is strictly prohibited.
B.
All floors shall be concrete, properly waterproofed or of some material
impervious to liquids.
C.
All windows and outer doors shall be adequately screened.
D.
The premises shall be properly ventilated as to ensure adequate supply
of fresh air.
E.
A supply of hot and cold water under adequate pressures shall be
available for washing and other operating purposes.
F.
All surfaces utilized in the facility shall be cleaned daily, or
more frequently where required, using absorbent materials that are
collected and properly disposed of; wastewater utilized in the cleanup
process shall be treated in accordance with Department of Health standards.
G.
No waste matter shall be disposed of or composted on site. Adequate
provisions shall be made for the off-site disposal of waste matter.
H.
Containers equipped with airtight covers shall be provided for storage
of entrails and other material similar thereto, and the containers
shall be thoroughly cleaned and sterilized for use by either boiling
water or live steam.
I.
Any establishment covered by this chapter shall be managed so that
throughout the rendering or slaughtering process all odors and gases
will be consumed or reduced, so that no odors will have an effect
on neighboring premises.
J.
No garbage or other waste liable to give off a foul odor or attract
vermin shall be kept on the premises, nor shall any refuse or garbage
of any kind be kept on the premises.
The Town of Hartford in any permit granted for the operation
of a slaughtering house, rendering works or establishment reserves
the right to inspect the premises from time to time, and in the event
a departure from the prescribed methods of operation of slaughtering
houses, rendering works or establishments shall be made apparent,
and which in the opinion of the Town Board or its duly authorized
agent shall result in a lessening of the sanitary or health safeguards,
the Town Board, as a local board of health, may suspend the operation
of the plant and/or invoke penalties hereinafter set forth.
This chapter shall not apply to:
A.
Any bona fide farmer who butchers his own domestic animal, poultry
or fowl on his farm exclusively for use by him and members of his
household and his nonpaying guests and employees.
B.
Any retail merchant who accepts animals, poultry or fowl and processes
said animals, poultry or fowl for human consumption at his place of
business for a consumer who is utilizing the meat for his personal
consumption and not subject to resale. To qualify for this exemption,
the animal, poultry or fowl must have been killed and dressed off
site prior to arriving at the establishment, with all waste matter
properly disposed of by the consumer. Any offal that is generated
during the processing at the facility shall be returned to the consumer
for proper disposal. Residual parts of the animal, poultry or fowl
that are intended to generate revenue for the establishment, such
as hides, bones, etc., shall not be considered as waste.[1]
C.
A duly licensed hunter or hunting group or sport group which slaughters
hunted or sported animals, poultry or fowl for recreation or personal
consumption.
Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary contained herein,
no permit for the operation or maintenance of a slaughtering house,
rendering works or establishment shall be granted absent proof of
compliance with New York State Agricultural and Markets Law, the New
York State Environmental Conservation Law, and the rules and regulations
of the New York State Department of Health.
Any person violating any provisions of this chapter shall be
subject to a penalty in a sum not exceed $250 or imprisonment for
up to 15 days. Each day a slaughtering house, rendering works or establishment
is in operation contrary to the provisions of this chapter the same
shall constitute a separate and distinct offense, and each violation
shall be punishable as herein set forth.
Within 30 days of the effective date of this chapter, a person
operating or maintaining a slaughtering house, rendering works or
establishment as defined herein (an "existing facility") must apply
for a permit pursuant to this chapter. Such existing facility which
does not fully meet the regulations and requirements of this chapter
may be granted a temporary permit for a period of three months after
the effective date of this chapter. At the end of such three-month
period, such existing facility which has been issued a temporary permit
as provided for herein must fully comply with all regulations and
requirements contained in this chapter and obtain a permit; otherwise,
such existing permitted facility shall be terminated and the person
operating such activity shall immediately cease and desist from operating
or conducting same and shall remove from such place any carcass or
other materials of the nature described herein which would constitute
a slaughtering house, rendering works or establishment.
