Stop Rojo Rezoning in Town of Berry Wisconsin

Dear Neighbors,

I am writing you today to inform you of zoning changes that are being consider by the Town of Berry, Wisconsin. Unfortunately these changes are not positive, and likely will negatively affect you and your property values.

• Jose and Maria Rojo recently purchased Mary Eikes place and were granted a Conditional Use Permit - #2273. This permit allows them to board 25 horses. It also requires the Rojos to haul out their manure under Dane County guidelines to protect our drinking water and wetlands.

• Town of Berry Board will be voting on Monday March 26, 2018 to rezone their property from the current Exclusive Agriculture zoning (EA) to full Agriculture (AG) zoning. With AG zoning it conveniently removes their Conditional Use Permit (CUP) and ALL other restrictions on the Rojo farm, so they can expand to WHATEVER size they want (perhaps to hundreds of horses) and retain the ability to dump their manure on the property. This expansion of their well-funded equine boarding business can cause water problems, increased traffic from visitors wanting to ride their horses, unlimited building expansion, and increased stench from the animal waste -- all at the expense of your property values.

• How are they able to do this? The Town of Berry residents voted to opt-out of the zoning requirements of Dane County. The Town of Berry is just one of six towns in Dane Count break away and set its own zoning rules. Under Dane County zoning, equine (horse) facilities would be prohibited from qualifying as an approved AG use. It is for this reason Dane County put a CUP in place for the Rojo property. We have emailed our Town Board Chairman Tony Varda on this issue and he blatantly ignores us, and has stonewalled other residents who want an explanation for the Board's intentions to loosen these restrictions for the benefit of Mr. Rojo - a wealthy former Oscar Meyers executive.

• To make matters worse, one of the Board members is employed as a contractor by Mr. Rojo on his horse facility. This conflict of interest has been brought to the attention of the Board and state authorities, since this Board member must abstain from voting on this matter. On Monday March 26th, we will see if that Board member will recuse himself or not from voting.

• Board members Mr. Varda and Mr. Kruchten argue that this zoning change is needed, so Mr. Rojo can build a second house on the property. However, what they fail to tell everyone is that Rojo can ALREADY build his house under RH1 and EA zoning he already has in place... no AG zoning is required and this is simply a cover to slip in the misuse of the nearly unlimited controls of AG Zoning. (EA Zoning means that Rojo needs a CUP and is restricted to only 25 horses and must truck out his manure. He cannot grow beyond it. AG zoning means he can do whatever he wants without ANY CUP or restrictions.)

• General Engineering Company (GEC) is the 3rd party firm hired by the Town of Berry to administrate all zoning issues. GEC recommends that the remaining 37 acres of the Rojo property be zoned as EA (Exclusive Agriculture), maintain the CUP, and should not be zoned AG (see attached report from GEC). Our own Board Chairman Mr. Varda and fellow Board member Mr. Krupton are going against the recommendation of the engineering firm the residents of Berry voted in to provide administration services on zoning matters. The fact that they are disregarding these recommendations calls into question their objectivity and the process in place that allows the Board to pass "whatever zoning they want".

• Dane County specifies that Equine (horse facilities) are "Agricultural Entertainment" not included under AG Zoning and what the Town of Berry has done is rewrite the zoning to blur those appropriate restrictions. Furthermore, the Town of Berry's own General Code of Ordinance and Policy states "Livestock [for farms] does not include equine animals". Therefore, designating the Rojo facility as a farm for AG zoning is incorrect and against the Town of Berry's own rules.

Is this fair? Why are some Board members clearly ignoring state laws and the recommendations of their own zoning engineering firm GEC and Town of Berry Ordinances?

Join me in signing the following PETITION TO STOP ROJO FARM REZONING

Also, we NEED YOU to attend the Board meeting on March 26, 2018 at 7pm and show the Board you are watching… else power may corrupt our little Town… Your attendance matters!

Come early because the board put the ROJO matter first on the agenda.

Thank you for your time,

Residents of the Town of Berry

You can also view a version of this article and sign this petition online at www.protectwisconsin.org