The Oglethorpe County Zoning Board approved new A1 regulations on poultry farm setbacks and size limits, while a rezoning request for an RV park in Smithonia was withdrawn from the agenda.
The Oglethorpe County Zoning Board unanimously approved all revisions to the A1 Zoning District in the Oglethorpe County Unified Development Code at its Sept. 18 meeting.
The revisions, which move to the Board of Commissioners for final approval, address changes to intensive agricultural practices in the county. They include new regulations on poultry house proximity to property lines and limits on floor space.
Farms expanding over 300,000 square feet floor space must maintain a 600-foot setback from all property lines. Poultry houses are limited to 400,000 square feet unless a 100-foot setback is applied and cannot exceed 650,000 square feet.
Poultry facilities on adjacent properties under the same owner are considered one operation.
In other business, a review of a proposed RV park in Smithonia, submitted by Patriot Construction, was pulled from the agenda. Patriot Construction is owned by Chad Tracy and based in Arnoldsville.
The application requested the rezoning of the RV park location from AR (agriculture residential district) to A2 (general agriculture district).
Jeff Sharp, the county’s director of planning, zoning and compliance, said there are plans to bring the RV park application back for a future meeting, though he was unsure when.
“(Patriot Construction) wants some time to meet with landowners, adjoining owners and explain his vision, and I think people will be a little more comfortable,” Sharp said. “I think there was a lot of misinformation out there.”
“The plan is to construct no more than 60 RV, cabin and tree house sites,” according to the original zoning application. “The majority of the sites will be RV with less than 20% consisting of rental cabins and tree houses.”
The RV park project original document said it would aim to “preserve the agricultural practices already in place” in the county while adding a “low-density outdoor recreation area.”
No members of the public attended the meeting. Board members Robert Drew and Janet Hill were absent.
Sharp said attendance may have been higher if the RV park remained on the agenda.