A slaughterhouse burnt down near Harvard in 2023. Plans to rebuild it outside Woodstock raise objections.

A proposal for a slaughterhouse near Woodstock is headed to the McHenry County Board - but it’s not without opposition from nearby residents and Hartland Township.

Olague Farms Meat Packing’s Harvard-area facilities caught fire in 2023, which caused over $1 million in damages. Representatives say the company can’t rebuild there because the location is within 500 feet of residences, which wouldn’t be allowed under local ordinances.

Now owners Eduardo and Claudia Olague want to reopen on property they own at 15712 Nelson Road, near the Hartland Township offices. Besides a farmhouse on the land, it’s not within 500 feet of any residences, and the applicant has demonstrated compliance with county requirements, Anna Kurtzman, a county senior planner, said. The land is zoned agricultural, but the Olagues are seeking a conditional-use permit for the slaughterhouse.

The company plans to process mainly lambs and goats but cattle could occasionally be included if clients request it, representatives said. About 300 to 400 animals, but 500 at most, are expected to be slaughtered weekly. The plant expects to have about 15 employees, and representatives at a zoning board hearing estimated a construction price tag of about $2 to 3 million.

Kurtzman said county staff recommended several other conditions, including that the permit expires 10 years from approval, that a building permit has to be submitted with a year and that all federal, state and local laws be met.

But many nearby residents oppose the plant, raising concerns about pollution, the potential for decreased property values, noise and smells, among other things. A change.org petition opposing the facility says it was created by citizens with the backing of township trustees and has just over 300 signatures as of Friday.

Stacy Lindsay said she can see the site from her property, which she bought a couple of years ago and wouldn’t have purchased if there was a slaughterhouse coming. She called it a “completely inappropriate” use near in a residential area and said the plant will affect her ability to enjoy her property.

Company representatives said in the hearing they don’t currently plan retail operations, but some neighbors have been skeptical the company doesn’t plan to expand.

Lindsay noted the proximity of the county-owned Valley Hi Nursing Home, which the county recently updated. She also said she and other neighbors feel ignored and that the township’s objection should be sufficient to force proprietors to look elsewhere.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Lindsay said.

Nearby resident Al Wilson said he visited a slaughterhouse in Union several weeks before the zoning hearing.

“On a breezy day, it smelled,” Wilson said, adding people in the neighborhood near Hartland should be prepared to shut their windows, limit time outside and get ready for 30 or so trucks a week, a figure confirmed by the company traffic study. Wilson said such facilities are a better fit in industrial areas.

“How does the addition of a slaughterhouse to any neighborhood make that neighborhood more desirable to live in or make the houses more valuable? I don’t know of anyone who would choose to live near a slaughterhouse if they were given a choice,” Wilson said.

Megan Burns, who also lives near the proposed site, said the community isn’t opposed to agriculture or small business, but the plant isn’t a good fit for the zoning, infrastructure, residents or safety.

“Our community will absorb the impact, while the benefits, both economical and nutritional, will leave town,” Burns said.

Burns said it would set a precedent and open the area to future industrial developments. She added something like the fire in 2023 “could easily play out in Hartland.”

Residents have raised similar concerns about a separate – and considerably smaller – slaughterhouse proposal near Wonder Lake.

Laurel Ksepka said she was about 420 feet from the Woodstock-area property. She said potential environmental impacts – like well contamination, water depletion, air pollution and constant noise – “don’t stop at 500 feet.”

Ksepka said she was “gravely concerned” for her family’s health and that the family had planned to build a home for their daughter on their undeveloped parcel, but that will have to go if the meat-processing plans are approved.

“We strongly oppose the approval of this commercial facility in our peaceful, rural community,” Ksepka said. She is township clerk but didn’t mention her title.

Township Supervisor Chuck Kruse urged a zoning board denial. He said he researched the business and found 39 violations. Kruse said this shows “the petitioner cannot follow rules.” He called it “kind of ridiculous” that Hartland and Valley Hi residents would have to deal with everything that comes with such a facility.

That violations figure is unconfirmed but was not immediately challenged by the company’s lawyers at the hearing. Records show the business paid a fine for a 2021 public nuisance violation alleging malfunctioning private sewage systems.

But Bert Flowers, who also lives very close to the development, said he doesn’t have an objection to it. He said the county board said yes to his welding business at his home about 25 years ago, and he felt it would be hypocritical to oppose the slaughterhouse.

But the township has formally objected. Steve Cuda, an attorney who represented the township at the hearing, said almost all of the livestock would come from and be sold outside the county. The petitioners had said earlier most of the animals would from be outside the county.

Cuda claimed the company has received over 30 violations from 2019 to 2023.

While the petitioner said he’ll comply with state and federal rules and regulations, Cuda mentioned the previous violations and said “history indicates he was unable to do so in the past.”

Cuda added that if Olague Farms had looked at an industrial site, they wouldn’t be here today.

Olague Farms settled alleged Packers and Stockyards Act violations in 2020, which they were asked about at the zoning board hearing.

“Mr. Olague stated that he made a livestock purchase, and his check bounced. He stated that the issue was resolved in a matter of days,” according to county records.

Another sticking point at the zoning board was that under county ordinances, animals that are to be slaughtered have to be killed within 24 hours. While the petitioner and the lawyer affirmed that was the case and expressed a willingness to follow that law, the lawyer later clarified the 24 hour rule applied once the animals went inside the facility, according to county records.

Cuda said if the company can’t meet the 24-hour rule, it never should have filed the petition.

Tyler Wilke, a lawyer for Olague Farms, said “we don’t believe” the operation will be injurious to others or have an impact on neighbors’ enjoyment of their property. In regards to property values, Wilke said the use was “consistent” based on the design and placement on what exists there now.

Wilke said Eduardo Olague maintains his license with Illinois and that the facility would be required to undergo governmental inspections.

Nick Kubiak, the McHenry County Department of Health public information officer, said the department had conducted an initial review of the proposal and provided general comments on private sewage disposal and water well requirements. But no permits have been submitted for a new private sewage disposal system, he said.

Tanks did come up during the zoning board hearing, and representatives said tanks would be emptied weekly.

A couple members of the zoning board weren’t convinced the 24-hour rule would be followed, but the board gave the thumbs-up to the request on a 5-2 vote.

The slaughterhouse was supposed to come up for a final vote in May at the county board, but the company asked for a month’s delay. The Olagues couldn’t be reached for comment, and the lawyers for the township and Olague Farms weren’t available for additional comment.