[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Bethel 10-9-1991. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Zoning — See Ch. 345.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Cattle, swine, fowl, poultry, sheep, goats, horses, rabbits
and other large domesticated mammals.
All parts, including viscera of a slaughtered animal, that
are capable of being used for human food.
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.
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 Bethel, Sullivan
County, New York, unless and until:
A.
An application for the maintenance and operation thereof
shall have been made to the Planning Board of said Town;
B.
A review of such maintenance and operation shall have
been made by the Planning Board after a public hearing, upon notice
published once in newspapers circulating within the Town of Bethel,
at least 10 days before the date of said hearing;
C.
A report of the findings of the Planning Board is
made to the Town Board of the Town of Bethel; and
D.
A permit for such operation has been granted by the
said Town Board.
No permit shall be granted for the operation or maintenance of a slaughtering house, rendering works or establishment as provided in § 265-2 hereof 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.
Every applicant shall deposit with the Building
Department Officer of the Town of Bethel a sum as set from time to
time by resolution of the Town Board as and for an application fee
pursuant to this chapter. The Building Department Officer shall pay
out of said sum the cost of publishing the notice as hereinabove required.
A.
Any application made to the Planning Board, 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 operations 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 Bethel, on such forms including forms complying with Article
8 of the Environmental Conservation Law of the State of New York,
SEQR Rules and Regulations Part 617, 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 within the
Town shall be constructed to comply with the following specifications:
A.
All floors shall be concrete, properly waterproofed
or of some material impervious to liquids.
B.
All windows and outer doors shall be adequately screened.
C.
The premises shall be properly ventilated as to insure
adequate supply of fresh air.
D.
A supply of hot and cold water under adequate pressures
shall be available for washing and other operating purposes.
E.
Adequate provisions shall be made for the disposal
of waste matter.
F.
Metal containers equipped with tight 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.
G.
Any establishment covered by this chapter shall be
provided so that during the cooking process all odors and gases will
be consumed or reduced, so that no odors will have an effect on neighboring
premises.
The Town of Bethel, 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 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 butchers or slaughters animals,
poultry or fowl at his place of business, for retail sales to a consumer,
which is not for resale by the consumer but for home consumption;
or
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 anything to the contrary contained
herein, no permission for the operation or maintenance of a slaughtering
house, rendering works or establishment shall be granted unless the
applicant submits proof of compliance with the Agricultural and Markets
Law of the State of New York, the Environmental Conservation Law of
the State of New York 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 the sum of not more than
$250 or imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or both, and in addition
thereto shall be guilty of disorderly conduct and be a disorderly
person. Each day a slaughtering house, rendering works or establishment
is operating contrary to the provisions of this chapter, the same
shall constitute a separate and definite violation thereof and each
violation shall be punishable as herein set forth.
Any lawful structure or use existing at the
time of adoption of this chapter may continue although such structure
or use does not conform to the requirements of this chapter. No such
nonconforming use may be increased by the erection of any additional
structures or extensions or enlargements of existing structures. Structural
changes may, however, be made in a nonconforming structure or within
a structure detailed to a nonconforming use, provided that the cost
thereof shall not exceed 50% of the then-assessed value of said structure.
The discontinued use of a nonconforming use for a period of one year
shall be considered an abandonment thereof and such nonconforming
use shall not thereafter be revived.
