Darlington County Council takes no action on turkey farm

Darlington County Council put off action on a request for a variance for a road into a proposed turkey farm near Darlington on Monday.

Marifaye Haselden presented the request for a variance from the existing 50-foot width requirement to allow a 40-foot width to allow a road from Penn Road into the proposed facility.

Marifaye and her husband, Scott Haselden of Haselden Farms, received a permit from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control in November to build the turkey facility.

Opponents of the facility appealed DHEC’s decision to grant the permit, but DHEC’s board upheld the agency’s action. Opponents appealed the board’s ruling and the matter is currently pending before a state administrative law judge, according to DHEC spokesman Adam Myrick.

The Haseldens own about 200 acres of land off Pocket Road, and the proposed facility will occupy about 12 acres of it along Penn Road, about four miles outside of Darlington.

Plans call for the facility to consist of eight houses each accommodating about 6,000 turkeys.

The Darlington County Planning Commission voted unanimously on April 14 to grant the Haseldens the road variance.

The planning commission, however, had no authority under the county’s agriculture ordinance to take such action, according to County Attorney Jim Cox. The matter must come before council for action, he said.

Apparently, no one realized at the time that the issue did not fall under the planning commission’s jurisdiction.

Haselden asked council to support the planning commission’s original decision, saying that the commission’s members are all appointed by council.

But an attorney representing a neighboring landowner said his client opposes the variance and said truck traffic into and out of the farm on the proposed road would destroy his client’s property.

Attorney Walker H. Wilcox, representing Danny and Virginia Lewis, also challenged whether Marifaye owns an easement for the road. “From the property records we’ve seen, she does not own it,” he said.

He said Marifaye has no legal standing to request a variance from council.

Marifaye produced a deed which she said shows she is the legal owner. But she said the deed has not yet been recorded with the Clerk of Court’s office.

Cox said a deed not recorded is not a deed council must consider.

Marifaye said truck traffic on the road would be minimal and that she and her husband have taken steps to ensure that no damage would result to neighboring property. “There’s no way it can possibly hurt somebody else’s land,” she said.

She said the proposed farm had to meet some of the most rigorous environmental standards in the nation in obtaining the permit from DHEC.

Marifaye said poultry facilities have operated safely in South Carolina for more than 50 years with no evidence of any health risk to the public or to the people who live and work on the farms every day.

She said the state is a leader in poultry production, ranking third in the nation.

She said poultry facilities provide food for consumers and contribute to the state’s economy with jobs, income and tax revenues for state and local governments.

Farming, she said, is more beneficial to the environment than many more urbanized activities.