A Bedford resident concerned about a proposed animal processing plant in Goffstown is holding an open house to get signatures for a petition to send to the Goffstown Zoning Board. Danielle Mazzella, who lives at 487 Joppa Hill Road in Bedford, lives downhill from Negash Abdelkader of 83 Joppa Hill Road in Goffstown.

On Mazzella’s list of concerns are the amount of traffic increasing on the unpaved portion of Joppa Hill Road, protecting her well water and the smell. The open house will be held at 487 Joppa Hill Road today, Thursday, Aug. 28, from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Abdelkader is in the midst of a Zoning Board process to get a special exception to put an animal processing plant on his property. A public hearing on the waiver has been continued for a second time, and will resume at the Goffstown Zoning Board’s next meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 2, at 7 p.m., at Goffstown Town Hall, located in town center on Main Street, Route 114.

The small operation would be housed in a 1,500-square-foot barn, where Abdelkader and a couple of workers would practice Halal, a method of slaughtering animals similar to the Jewish kosher process. The animals are slaughtered quickly while facing Mecca, and are prepared for delivery on site.

“The only difference is that in Islam, any adult is capable of doing the slaughtering as opposed to Judaism where the rabbi has to be there to bless the animal,” Abdelkader said.

Mazzella said about 90 percent of her property is in Bedford, but a small portion is actually over the town line. Approximately 157 feet separate Mazzella’s land from Abdelkader’s.

The portion of Joppa Hill Road that would allow access to Abdelkader’s property is unpaved, and Mazzella said she worries about whether it will be able to handle the extra traffic.

Mazzella has three young children and she worries the delivery trucks could pose a hazard. She is also worried about the smell migrating to the nearby Riddle Brook School in Bedford.

“That odor is going to work its way down there, no problem,” said Mazzella, a real estate agent, adding the summer months will proliferate the smell.

Abdelkader said he would be slaughtering about a dozen lambs, goats and cows per day after getting about half a dozen deliveries a week. The United States Department of Agriculture would inspect the facility regularly, he said.

An applicant applying for this type of waiver must ensure that the plans are consistent with the town’s master plan in that the site is appropriate for the proposed use; must prove that the neighborhood’s character will not be significantly impacted and that the use will not propose a nuisance or hazard; that the site is large enough for appropriate structures; and that there are appropriate buffers to abutting properties.

Many residents in both towns feel Abdelkader is not meeting some of those requirements.