BARTOW — An administrative judge ruled Wednesday that a change the county made to its comprehensive development plan after BS Ranch & Farm began running its solid waste facility was not in compliance with Florida statute.
Tallahassee-based Administrative Law Judge Suzanne Van Wyk wrote that county officials never offered any evidence during a hearing in December to counter the initial approval of BS Ranch's development.
"No evidence was introduced to counter staff's 2016 findings that Institutional land use districts are located 'throughout the County where manufacturing impacts would be significant to neighboring property owners,' that Industrial designations comprise less than .6 percent of the unincorporated land area; and staff's opinion that 'the industrial district is the most appropriate location for soil manufacturing facilities.' "
BS Ranch co-owner Brandy Stanton said she was pleased with the ruling.
"I think the court rulings are showing that the county never treated us fairly," Stanton said. "It never was handled correctly."
Van Wyk said the county's approach was unnecessary.
"The Plan Amendment is not an appropriate reaction to anecdotal data regarding the off-site impacts of one soil manufacturing facility by allowing those facilities in land use districts which are more dispersed throughout the County," Van Wyk wrote.
In 2016, the county adopted a plan that created a soil manufacturing code specific to facilities like BS Ranch. But less than a year later, the county changed the code to institutional land use, placing BS Ranch in a non-conforming use. The East Lakeland industrial facility recycles human waste, mulch and out-of-date foods. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has cited the facility for odors, while nearby residents have continued to complain about odors coming from the area of the facility.
Recently, the Florida DEP has said that the facility must restore 5 acres of wetlands, enclose areas at the plant likely to generate odors and change the way it processes waste.
Michael Craig, a lawyer for the county, did not return a phone message. John Bohde, director of the county's land development division, declined comment, citing ongoing litigation with BS Ranch.
Patrice Boyes, a Gainesville-based lawyer for BS Ranch, said the county has 15 days to appeal the ruling.
Boyes expects an appeal.
"They will use every mechanism to try to put my client out of business," Boyes said. "Before we rush to judgment we need to sort out who is causing off-site impacts."
She added in a news release that the facility is in a heavy industrial area surrounded by businesses that create odors.
"One such potential source is a waste-water treatment plant, located between BS Ranch and the Polk Parkway, and which received a warning letter dated January 30, 2018, from the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation concerning an overflowing sewer lift station, sending liquid along the side of Maine Avenue," Boyes wrote.
It's the second court case the county has lost.
In 2017 in a separate county code enforcement case, a magistrate ruled BS Ranch should be allowed to stay in business.
Nicholas Troiano, the county’s code-enforcement magistrate, wrote the county should have anticipated that such an operation would emit offensive odors.
Also in 2017, county officials filed for an injunction against the business after they said BS Ranch violated a cease-and-desist order in March by accepting hundreds of tons of waste from wastewater treatment plants across the state. That circuit court case in Bartow has been delayed.
County Commissioner Melony Bell acknowledged there are other odors in the area, but she said BS Ranch is the main culprit.
"I've been back there when it has smelled," Bell said Thursday. "Most of the time it is BS Ranch."
She said complaints from residents about odors haven't stopped.
"My heart goes out to residents who have to put up with that," Bell said.
John Chambliss can be contacted at john.chambliss@theledger.com or 863-802-7588.