"New Zoning Restrictions Address Issues From Larger Chicken Houses"

"Proximity of operations to residential areas raises health, pollution concerns"

"Chicken farms, once tucked into fields and in mostly rural areas, have come to roost near schools, daycare centers and subdivisions on the Delmarva Peninsula. The change — in both location and density — is prompting local politicians to enact some of their first zoning restrictions on poultry growers.

But many residents contend the changes are window dressing — addressing cosmetic concerns but ignoring the larger problems they have with large-scale poultry operations as close neighbors, such as long-term potential health problems, environmental pollution and property values.

'It’s not the farm of the past. It’s not a family farm. It’s no-land farms, just packing as many as they can put on a parcel of property,'said Lisa Inzerillo, an Eastern Shore native who lives near Princess Anne along a once-quiet country road that now includes dozens of chicken houses. 'That’s not the beauty of what we come over to the Eastern Shore to look at. That’s not what makes me proud to live here.'"

Rona Kobell reports for the Bay Journal October 15, 2016.