Sept. 9, 2022

As Wholestone Farms begins building a small butcher shop in northeast Sioux Falls, the group opposing its larger project is asking the legal system to stop the construction.

The group Smart Growth Sioux Falls is seeking an injunction from the Second Judicial Circuit Court for Minnehaha County, to stop construction until voters consider their ballot measure in November. That would ban any slaughterhouses from building within the city limits other than those expanding at their current locations.

In its filing, Smart Growth Sioux Falls called on the court to bar the city from issuing any permits, licenses, certificates, or approvals to Wholestone based on what it called “state laws that expressly prohibit interference with the outcome of a pending ballot measure.”

According to the complaint, Wholestone’s accelerated timeline means it might not have all of the required permits and approvals.

“We think Wholestone is undermining the law and ignoring the will of the people — and, unfortunately, the city of Sioux Falls is complicit,” said Smart Growth Sioux Falls legal counsel Brendan Johnson in a statement. “We believe the law bars the city from preempting the ballot measure and effectively prohibits Wholestone from proceeding until the matter is decided by voters.”

Smart Growth Sioux Falls this week also filed a public records request with the governor’s office for communications “that could reveal which slaughterhouse operators may be working behind the scenes to locate more industrial meat-packing facilities in Sioux Falls,” it said. It also called on the city council to issue a temporary moratorium on meat-processing facilities, comparing it to a moratorium adopted in 2015 on new billboards, “to allow for a free and fair debate.”

In a statement, Wholestone chairman Luke Minion said:

“The opposition suggests their proposed changes are in place now and have been over the past 4+ years. This is simply not accurate.  Wholestone has and is following all rules, regulations, and processes put in place by voters over decades.  Smart Growth Sioux Falls jeopardizes all future business development in our community if their initiative is approved.”

The Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce recently issued a position against the ballot measure, saying: “The ordinance changes the rules in the middle of the game for a business that has followed all regulations set forth to date. This is bad for the economic future of our city. The city’s current zoning ordinances were approved by a majority of Sioux Falls citizens in 2014. The application to rezone the parcel in question was approved in 2017 without opposition.”