Homeowners, city, county battle over horse manure

Harmless Or Health Hazard?


by Jason Wright / Appen Newspapers

April 24, 2009

There is a heap of trouble brewing on Birmingham Road — heaps made of horse manure, to be exact.

The two piles of manure constitute either a harmless compost heap or an odorous health hazard, depending on which side of the fence you are on.

They sit on the 6.25-acre horse farm owned by 15-year Milton resident Cynthia Chandlee, just about 45 feet from her neighbor's kitchen window.

Chandlee says they are compost piles that break down into rich fertilizer, which is then picked up by a local landscaping company.

But her neighbors of eight years, Ricky and Kim Crittenden, say that's a load of, well, manure.

Their position is this is not proper compost, and that in certain times during the summer, the smell and flies get so bad they can barely go outside. They say it washes into their yard and is an environmental hazard.

"We've had company come over, and it's embarrassing," said Ricky Crittenden.

He said their property is surrounded by horse farms, which they love. Of course, none of the other farmers place mounds of waste 10 feet from the property line.

All they want, Crittenden said, is for Chandlee to move the piles someplace farther away where no one can be bothered by them. They said that request goes back to when they bought the land for the home from Chandlee in 2000.

Not surprisingly, Chandlee says the mounds are placed in the best area for them and her.

In April, the Crittenden's called Fulton County's Department of Health and Wellness and alerted environmental specialists to the mounds — part of what Chandlee calls "an ongoing feud" between the two families that has in the past involved Milton's code enforcement division.

Fulton County Environmental Specialist Lindsay Charles cited Chandlee April 8 for both keeping conditions conducive to breeding flies and maintaining "putrescent" material. He gave her two weeks to clean them up.

The problem, said Chandlee, is that horse manure compost piles don't breed flies — the chemical process that breaks down the material creates a reaction too hot their eggs to survive. Also, she said the piles don't smell like fresh manure because of that same process.

So when Charles came back April 22 to check on the clean up, Chandlee hadn't removed the piles. And now she's going to court May 1 for it.

"You have to be kidding me," said Chandlee. "I'm going to court for horse poop."

Fulton wants her to clean up all manure from her five horses twice a week.

"We're trying to go green, and they want this to go to a landfill. No horse manure should ever go to a landfill," Chandlee said.

April Majors is public affairs officer for the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness. She said compost or not, Chandlee was cited because it was determined the pile had the potential for producing a nuisance.

"It can attracts files, mosquitoes or rodents and can cause problems for both homeowners," she said. "It is our responsibility to investigate, and upon investigation there was found to be a violation."

Chandlee is perhaps most livid she could be cited for the potential of flies and smell.

"That's like giving someone a speeding ticket when they're sitting in a parking lot," she said.

For the Crittenden's, the situation has become a nightmare. When Chandlee was cited April 22, she began calling media outlets to tell the story. They say they weren't aware of any "ongoing feud" between them and Chandlee — whom they almost never speak with. They said they decided to only go through "proper authorities" and are distressed they are now involved in a saga playing out in the newspapers.

"Those claims of a feud are untrue," said Kim Crittenden. "I'm a private person, this is so embarrassing for me. I'm just not that kind of person."

They say they are now worried that the horse community in Milton might be turned against them.

"This has nothing to do with horses, nothing to do with farms," said Kim Crittenden. "It has to do with not being a responsible horse owner."Her husband agreed."This is between Fulton County and the property owner," said Ricky Crittenton. "I don't even know why names have to come into it. We just want the homeowner to take appropriate responsibility for managing her manure."

The whole situation has been creating quite a headache for Milton City Manager Chris Lagerbloom. He said the city was first called to Chandlee's farm by the Crittendens in 2007 when Chandlee began composting the material instead of having it hauled off. Chandlee said that was due to rising costs of having it transported.

At first a code enforcement officer asked her to move the piles 100 feet from the property line. Then Milton reversed its position after Chandlee did some research and provided her findings. Chandlee apparently wasn't composting commercially, which would have required the 100-foot rule, so there was no violation of city code.

Lagerbloom said since then the calls have continued — which the Crittendens refute — and no violations have ever been found, "You can only investigate the same thing so many times," he said. But Milton can't tell Fulton what to do."They [Fulton County] have a health code that they believe at this point has been violated," said Lagerbloom. "Our opinion is that we can't stop the Department of Health as much as my personal interest might be to say, 'Come on guys, let's not let this get out of control.'"

Chandlee maintains she has been unfairly targeted. There are at least five horse farms that surround her property on Birmingham Road, none of which have been cited.

But that's because no one has ever complained."It's selective prosecution," she said. "If it applies to me, it applies to every horse farm in Milton."

The Crittendens feel the whole situation is "very unfortunate.""This should be handled as neighbors," said Kim Crittenden. "It's a waste of our officials' time and a waste of taxpayer money."

The outcome could set a big precedent for the small town, which is rife with horse farms and even bases its image on them."We have a lot of horse farms, and with horse farms come horse poop — it's just a fact of life," said Lagerbloom. "There could be the risk that the people who are upset with a neighbor or don't like the smell or the visual appearance of it [could file] a complaint to an agency outside the city of Milton's control that does have the ability for enforcement action."