Darlington County turkey farmers say zoning petition ‘concerns’ them

DARLINGTON — Turkey farmers expressed their concern Tuesday night to the Darlington County Planning Commission about a petition that requests the county adopts a zoning ordinance that would prohibit the development of poultry farms.

The commission can’t yet determine how many legitimate signatures are on the petition, which was brought to county council Monday by residents of the Back Swamp community, planning director Doug Reimold said.

Darlington County does not zone land that lies in unincorporated areas, Reimold said.

In a letter included in the petition, the residents requested county council adopt a similar ordinance to what Edgefield County has in which zoning and special development districts would be established in the county.

“Our ultimate goal is to maintain the quality of life that citizens, farmers and business owners of the community have historically enjoyed,” the letter states.

Scotty Haselden and his wife, Marifaye Haselden, were expecting to get final approval Thursday for the development of a turkey farm on Penn Road.

On Tuesday, however, they were notified by the Department of Health and Environmental Control that their permit has been appealed by those who signed the petition.

“They want to dub out turkey farms (and) chicken farms,” Marifaye Haselden said. “They want to do away with ours and future ones.”

The Haseldens intend to use 14 acres on a 200-acre lot to run the turkey farm, and they said their right to farm would be unfairly taken away if the residents win the appeal.

“I’m not putting a turkey farm in the middle of a housing area,” Scotty Haselden said to the commission.

The Haseldens said they expected some of the residents who signed the petition to show up at Tuesday’s commission meeting, but none did.

Former commission member and land preservation advocate Ben Williamson, who also spoke at the meeting, requested that if a zoning ordinance is adopted, a portion of land be preserved for
agricultural purposes, which would include turkey farming.

In other business, the commission reviewed and made amendments to the county’s future land-use map in preparation for several public meetings in the coming months in which citizens will be able to give their input in the land-use element.

Also, the commission granted preliminary approval to the development of The Gateway at Lake Robinson, a subdivision that would be built north of Hartsville near Lake Robinson.