Only one vote was cast against the city of DeKalb's decision to annex land bordering the Greenwood Acres development on Hoger Farm at Monday night's DeKalb City Council meeting.

Third Ward Ald. Steve Kapitan cast the lone vote against the annexation of approximately 14.55 acres of vacant land south of Greenwood Acres Drive, bordering the Greenwood Acres development on the former Hoger Farm. Kapitan's primary concern with the development was that before Greenwood Acres Drive is extended to Peace Road, people might take the proposed Kelly extension to Route 14, Route 14 to Pleasant Street and Pleasant Street to Peace Road.

Shari Neeley, a representative of the developer John Clare Ltd., informed the council that the company's traffic engineer had estimated that only 5 percent of the drivers on the proposed Kelly extension would be such "cut through" drivers. She said the development had been designed to channel traffic around, rather than through the development.

Kapitan asked if John Clare Ltd. had considered connecting the regional bike path with the real estate development, and Neely responded that plans already call for a linkage point at Dresser Road. Kapitan persisted, asking if additional linkage points were planned. Neely said none were planned.

Kapitan also asked if the former drive-in movie theater, west of the area, should become part of the real-estate development. Kapitan said he didn't think the land effectively could be developed as retail space without the addition of another road. City staff advised Kapitan that the property is still viable commercial space with access to an interior road and that subsequent development is up to the owner.

After opposing the annexation, Kapitan also cast the solitary vote against a zoning change being granted for the development of Hoger Farm from single family residential zoning to mixed-use planned commercial development zoning. Kapitan questioned the failure of John Clare Ltd.'s traffic engineer to write an estimate on the impact of traffic to the industrial portion of the development. Neely responded that until plans are drawn up for the proposed industrial development, the traffic engineer can only guess at how many people would be driving through the industrial park, so a traffic study would not be possible.

On Monday night, the DeKalb City Council unanimously allowed Cavel International Inc., a horse slaughtering plant, to send a special-use zoning permit to the Planning Commission for a slaughterhouse/meat packing facility.

Cavel lawyer Brett Brown requested the passage of the special zoning-use permit to move the company to a new 28,000 square foot facility 500 feet up the road from its current location at 108 Harvestore Drive. The DeKalb Planning Commission voted against an initial permit for the Belgium-based company on Sept. 12 because of zoning regulations regarding the practice of horse slaughtering and outrage from community members and businesses.

Brown asserted that the city staff continues to support the company's plan to move, but the Planning Commission unexpectedly opposed the plans.

Commission members had to decide whether the new facility would have an "unreasonable detrimental impact" on the value of neighboring real estate. In theory, a single person declaring he would not buy land in a given place would have a "detrimental impact."

Cavel International must prove its occupation of the new facility would have no such impact. Consequently, Cavel International would like the opportunity to present expert witnesses before the commission, before the petition's first reading.

Cavel is willing to continue renting the old facility for a few years after occupying the new facility as a backup, just in case the city council rules that the new facility is a nuisance and the operations have to be moved a second time.

The city staff has estimated that Cavel may rent the first facility for up to two years and retain "grandfather" zoning status for the building.

"I would rather see the old facility renovated than have the company move," 3rd Ward Ald. Steve Kapitan said, adding that a second company in the same industry could move into the old facility.

Kapitan also expressed concern that a company dealing with pork or cattle might move in the facility, but he was assured by city attorney Margo Ely that if this hypothetical company became a real nuisance, the zoning could be changed on the old facility, forcing operations there to close.