Opponents displeased by the approval of a permit for a 500,000-square-foot beef processing facility just outside Foristell have appealed the decision to the Warren County Commission. An appeal hearing is now scheduled for late May.

In April, beef harvesting company American Foods Group (AFG) was granted a conditional use permit to operate a commercial slaughterhouse on Veterans Memorial Parkway immediately west of the Foristell city limits. The Warren County planning and zoning board, a group of appointed citizen volunteers, voted 6-1 to approve the permit.

In a public forum leading up to the permit, nearby residents in the rural area raised concerns about potential impacts on area traffic, odor, and water quality. AFG has included answers to those concerns in the information the company has presented to county officials.

Ahead of their vote to approve the permit, planning board members focused on the disturbance caused by traffic as the greatest concern that the planning board has authority to regulate. Board members voted to keep any of AFG’s private driveways out of a small buffer zone close to nearby houses, but acknowledged that they can’t limit any new public access road going through the area.

A group of nearby residents have now challenged the beef plant permit and are seeking an appeal hearing to overturn it. The appeal, signed by 45 area residents, was submitted on April 29 and petitions for a hearing before the Warren County Commission, the county government’s top administrative body.

An appeal hearing has now been scheduled for May 24 at 6 p.m., according to the Warren County Clerk’s office. At the hearing, AFG and opponents will both get a chance to make their arguments for and against the project to the commissioners, who were not previously involved in issuing the permit for the project. The commission can then choose to affirm the permit, modify it, or reject it.

Although the county commission hasn’t officially weighed in on the permit for AFG, commissioners have already taken other action in support of the project, including applying for state grant funding to build supporting road infrastructure around the development site.

In their petition appealing the permit, opponents say they’re concerned about environmental impacts and insufficient infrastructure for hundreds of vehicles each day. AFG has stated that at full capacity, the plant would have enough traffic to bring in around 2,400 cattle per day.

“An environmental impact study related to the conditions of water, air, noise, and odor quality has not been provided showing that the quality of life for residents ... will not be diminished due to the impacts of the AFG slaughterhouse construction,” opponents wrote in their petition. They allege that increased stormwater runoff from the building and paved parking will cause increased flooding in surrounding areas, and that pollutants from the plant allegedly could contaminate groundwater which supplies area wells.

Opponents also said the impact on already congested roadways around Foristell isn’t well understood.

“The developer should commission an engineering study to determine the impacts of the development to adjoining properties and public infrastructure prior to allowing an approval of any type of permit,” opponents wrote.

It’s important to note that AFG and/or the Warren County Commission have already been discussing plans to account for these concerns. In December, the commission announced that it is seeking a $2 million grant from the state government to help add turn lanes to Veterans Memorial Parkway near the plant, and to build a paved public road to serve the area.

AFG has stated in its project presentations that all wastewater from the facility will be routed into a sewer system and cleaned of contaminants, a requirement that is strictly mandated by state law.