I gotta hand it to them, it seems WF found a way around the petition;

Wholestone Farms plans to open a custom butcher shop at the location planned for its future pork processing plant — before a November election that could prohibit the company from expanding here.

Construction is starting “imminently” on the shop, which will be located on the 170-acre property in northeast Sioux Falls near Benson Road and Interstate 229, near Gage Brothers Concrete Materials.

Butchering will begin there before a November election, when a proposed ordinance expected to be placed on the ballot could lead to meat processing plants being prohibited within the city limits.

By having an operating processing plant before the election means that the petition, if passed, cannot STOP Wholestone from expanding;

As you can see from the petition language, if a processing plant is operating in Sioux Falls before the ordinance is passed, it can expand, which means nothing would be stopping WF from building the bigger facility hooked to the existing butcher shop.

In a statement, Robert Peterson, treasurer of the Smart Growth Sioux Falls campaign, said:  “This smells like a hastily concocted attempt to thwart the will of over 10,000 concerned citizens of Sioux Falls who believe the city voters should have a say on any future slaughterhouses in Sioux Falls.”

It kinda smells like you just got punked!

8 Thoughts on “Wholestone Foods cleverly finds a loophole in the slaughterhouse petition

  1. Very Stable Genius on July 14, 2022 at 4:01 pm said:

    But what is the actual definition of a “processing plant”? Wouldn’t that mean that they would have to have actual live cows in the back room of the butcher shop? And imagine the noisy and the blood. Or, could they move the meat to the butcher shop and still call it a “processing plant”? Which, when you think about it, is a lot like an out-of-state bank using our charter laws to their advantage, or a wealthy person, who has never been to South Dakota, using our trust laws. Maybe South Dakota’s new economic development slogan should be: “South Dakota: We are always in the process of processing something”.

    ( and Woodstock adds: “Well, you know what they always say about sausage making and law making”… )

  2. l3wis on July 14, 2022 at 4:12 pm said:

    If it is a traditional butcher shop, the hogs would be killed onsite and processed onsite.

  3. 3 little pigs on July 14, 2022 at 4:32 pm said:

    i said it before and i’ll repeat.
    1. this is about one guys house.
    2. there may very well be a well known democrat operative involved.
    3. wholestone may also have chinese backing.
    4. i’ll ad this…with smithfield and the sewage treatment facility right there…the stink isn’t going anywhere no matter how many concerned citizens signed.

  4. But wouldn’t they then be required to call it a slaughterhouse and not a butcher shop?

    “This week only, pork chops are on sale at the Slaughterhouse”….. (“Where did you get this pork?”… (“Oh, I got it at the Slaughterhouse”))

  5. Mike Lee Zitterich on July 14, 2022 at 4:34 pm said:

    Yep, grandfather rights so long as they remain in business for consecutive years. They are protected by tge laws on the books today.

  6. D@ily Spin on July 14, 2022 at 4:38 pm said:

    In this city it’s not hard to get around legal procedure. Much of it is the unconstitutional charter. Most of it is padding the pockets of city leaders and tricky law firms. It’s disgusting when the petition process doesn’t work. There are fresh aggravated petitioners whose vote will reflect what’s happened. Anticipate the next election to have redistricting, a scavenger hunt for polling places, and a questionable vote count.
    Can Strong Arm Charter be replaced via the petition method? It seems the organized criminal charter is now permanent.

  7. scott on July 14, 2022 at 6:10 pm said:

    perhaps wholestone was behind the petition. in your previous post you said another packing house was considering sioux falls and wholestone would try to block it.

  8. The Guy From Guernsey on July 14, 2022 at 8:50 pm said:

    Has the ballot question committee filed a campaign finance report yet?
    Will be interested to ‘folliw the money’.

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