Township approves turkey farm

AMITY >> The Amity Township Board of Supervisors unanimously granted conditional approval on March 15 to the land development plans for a turkey farm business off Route 562.

Construction won’t begin until landowner Barry Shirey and his engineer, Brian Boyer, Boyer Engineering, LLC, Douglassville, submit to the township the municipal improvements agreement, financial security agreement, storm water management plan, and the driveway easement plan.

Shirey plans to build two, 700-foot- by- 63-foot, woodframe, metal roof and siding, dirt floor turkey houses, for 37,840 birds.

He will also build a 40-footby-15-foot-by 6-foot-high composter, with a concrete apron, which will hold 900 tons of manure, must be built according to all Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

High-intensity buffers will be installed by a registered landscaper on all sides of the turkey houses to provide additional

odor management.

The township’s conditions for location of the turkey farm on Shirey’s 75.68 acre property at 6359 Boyertown Pike (Route 562) include that each turkey house must have ventilation fans that are directed downward and to the southeast.

Operational generators must be installed in each turkey house in the event of a power outage.

The board included another 20 conditions that will protect the health, safety, and welfare of residents.

Their conditions were taken from approximately six different witnesses that testified during the five conditional use hearings (over five months) regarding best management practices for soil, water, manure, composting, and odor management.

Supervisor Richard L. Gokey was absent from the meeting.

Their conditions were taken from approximately six different witnesses that testified during the five conditional use hearings (over five months) regarding best management practices for soil, water, manure, composting, and odor management.