Slaughterhouse near Woodstock gets County Board OK over neighbor opposition

The McHenry County Board approved a Woodstock-area slaughterhouse that raised objections from neighbors and nearby Hartland Township officials.

The board voted 13-5 late Tuesday to approve a conditional-use permit for the slaughterhouse. The plan previously got a thumbs-up in a 5-2 vote from the county Zoning Board of Appeals.

While opponents made their last push for a no vote at a County Board committee meeting last week, a couple of board members also weighed in Tuesday.

Board member Michael Skala, R-Huntley, proposed changing the permit so that it would expire in five years instead of 10. The board voted against that via a voice vote.

In opposing the five-year plan, board member Jim Kearns, also a Huntley Republican, said there was “a lot of investment” from the business.

Board member Brian Sager, R-Woodstock, who voted against the slaughterhouse, said the board should not override local governments’ positions and noted the township objected to the slaughterhouse. Sager, the former mayor of Woodstock, said he had a lot of respect for people willing to open a business in the county, but he didn’t think that should “supersede what I believe are the rights and the opportunities for protection of life and well-being in an area in opposition to the residents themselves.”

Claudia Olague, who owns Olague Farms Meat Packing alongside her husband, said after the vote that she was happy with the outcome.

Olague Farms previously had a facility near Harvard that burned down in 2023. The company could not rebuild there due to proximity to residences, which prompted the Woodstock-area proposal.

Tyler Wilke, Olague Farms’ lawyer, said the approval was a good thing both for Olague Farms and the county, and the first big hurdle to clear.

Olague Farms and representatives previously said they intend to slaughter 300 to 500 sheep and goats weekly, as well as cattle upon request. The facility is expected to be about 9,000 square feet, and representatives have said the price tag would run from $2 million to $3 million.

The slaughterhouse is USDA certified and certified halal, Olague said.

Tuesday’s vote happened before the public had a chance to weigh in at that meeting, and a couple members of the audience angrily walked out after the vote.

Steve Cuda, the lawyer for Hartland Township, said “we’re disappointed” but didn’t think anyone was surprised by the outcome.

Margie Walsh, who lives close to the site, said she’s concerned with the county allowing such a change within 500 feet of residences.

County officials said during the zoning hearing that aside from a house on the property, the nearest residence wasn’t within 500 feet.

Although a lot of neighbors opposed the development, one previously told the Northwest Herald that he didn’t object to it and felt objecting would be hypocritical since the County Board approved a welding business at his home about 25 years ago.

Walsh said she wished the business owners well with their enterprise, “just maybe someplace else.”