Cumberland Township (which contains parts of the Gettysburg Battlefield) currently allows within its Agricultural/Residential zone "concentrated animal operations" to operate on 25 acres. This means that property owners of 25 acres or more (after deducting a 200 foot setback) can operate a "concentrated animal operation" of cows, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, or chickens. For example, an application is currently pending (1714 Mummasburg Road ) for a 60,000 hen laying operation less than 1.5 miles from the Eternal Light Peace Memorial. Moreover, this property (which is not currently a farm) is located within 500 feet of 22 residential households/families. Moreover, this proposed operation intends to store "on site" up to 500 TONS of chicken manure without implementing any odor mitigating practices.
The odor (and particulates, which can carry pathogens) of such a facility will easily inundate local residents as well as visitors to significant portions of the Gettysburg Battlefield. Also, given that an adjacent township (Tyrone) currently is home to nearly five million laying hens, the likelihood is that this 60,000 laying hen operation would be the beginning of a much larger enterprise. Do we really want Gettysburg to become known as the Concentrated Poultry Capital of Adams County, PA?