Branch County Court House and Clock Tower (photo courtesy Justin Lopshire, Midwest Communications, Inc.)
COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Branch County District Court Judge Brent Weigle has ruled that a compost site on M-86 near Hodunk Road is in violation of Batavia Township’s zoning ordinance and he has ordered the site to be cleaned up by March 1.
The township took Cornelius Farms and Fred Cornelius to court last summer claiming the alleged commercial composting was not permitted in an agricultural district. The township also complained about the “obnoxious odors” which according to the plaintiff constituted a nuisance.
The defendants maintained that the Michigan Right to Farm Act preempts the local zoning requirements and therefore precludes a nuisance finding.