Update: Litigation has been dismissed in this case and the business is expected to open in the coming months.
The opening of a Halal poultry processor and live butchery has been tied up in Alexandria courts since shortly after the Alexandria Planning Commission recommended that the City Council approve a special use permit for it back in March.
The case is still in litigation, and there is no projected opening date for the shop.
What is Saba Live Poultry?
Saba Live Poultry applied to the City to open its establishment in Alexandria in late 2018. The company planned to open a slaughter-to-order and retail facility at 3225 Colvin St. in Alexandria, (see map below) just south of the Alexandria Commons shopping center in a commercial area.
According to the company’s application to open in Alexandria, customers will be able to identify the live chicken they would like to purchase. The chicken will be weighed by a hanging scale before being moved to the slaughter room, where it would receive prayers before it is killed, plucked, cleaned and brought back to the customer, all in accordance with Halal standards.
According to the special use permit documents, the applicant explained early in 2019:
“Saba Live Poultry uses the Halal method of slaughter to process poultry. The question most usually asked about Halal concerns the method of slaughter. All meat and poultry we process will be slaughtered strictly in accordance with Islamic rites, where one of the most important prerequisites is the humane treatment of any animal intended for human food. Saba Live Poultry believes that concept of Halal involves the whole process of meat production from the wholesome food fed to the animals in their rearing right through until the meat reaches the consumer.”
Concerns from Residents and Businesses
Before the City Council voted to allow the establishment to open, several residents expressed concern in writing about whether such a facility should be permitted in Alexandria.
Saba Live Poultry has 14 locations nationwide, including several in New York, where the company was founded in 1998. Other locations are in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, California and Florida.
Saba Live Poultry has been involved in several complaints in other states. The company was shut down in Connecticut after killing a calf in a Home Depot parking lot after the calf escaped. That incident led to scrutiny by town, state and federal officials, who found multiple violations in plumbing, ventilation, sanitation and multiple other areas.
The company's Philadelphia facility has been found in violation of sanitation standards. In New York, the company has been fined for labor violations, including failure to pay overtime to employees.
In California, the company petitioned to increase production at one facility from 20,000 chickens per year to 50,000 because the lower production level it initially applied for was causing economic hardship, according to the company. That request was denied.
After the City Council approved the special use permit in March, 10 residents and businesses jointly sued the City, serving Mayor Justin Wilson and City Attorney Joanna Anderson. (See the initial complaint here, which lists the plaintiffs.)
The initial complaint stated that the City’s decision was unreasonable, arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of power and “predetermined and orchestrated by Defendants,” among other things. The complaint also stated that the decision could reduce the plaintiff’s property values, hurt local businesses and diminish the plaintiff’s quality of life.
“Businesses and citizens in locations where Applicant has other slaughterhouses report that the smells emanating from those slaughterhouses are horrific, especially in warm weather months,” according to the original complaint, which is more than 40 pages long.
The City has filed motions to dismiss aspects of the case for several reasons, including that some of the plaintiffs do not have sufficient standing to sue, that the harms listed in the complaint are too generalized, and that there are “no facts in support of their conclusory allegation that property values will be negatively impacted by the proposed use.” (See the City’s initial request to dismiss the suit here.)
Throughout the summer, the plaintiffs and defendants filed multiple motions with supporting documentation in response to each other's filings.
At this time, the public can see the documents with a paid online subscription after going through an application process, or people may visit the Clerk of the Court’s office at the Alexandria Circuit Court to use one of the free public access computer terminals. (Links to the the documents above were provided by Alexandria resident Jol Silversmith, an attorney who says he has zero connection to this case.)
Correction: An earlier version of this story noted that the Planning Commission approved the application; they only sent their recommendation to approve the application to the City Council, which ultimately approved it.
