Franklin County approves Cawthon Road rezone for four proposed poultry houses

Franklin County commissioners have approved a rezoning request for 61.95 acres on Cawthon Road in Canon, clearing a land-use change sought for four proposed breeder-hen houses. An April 16 Planning and Zoning Commission agenda says the Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 to change the tract from Agricultural to Agricultural Intensive. The agenda reports the result but does not say when commissioners took that vote.

The decision matters because it moves a defined rural property beyond its original Agricultural classification and into the county category requested for the poultry operation. It does not, by itself, establish that the houses will be built. The proposed project involves part of map/parcel 065/122B in District 3, and later permits, construction activity and a completion date are not documented in the county materials described here.

The proposal first appeared on the Planning and Zoning Commission’s March 19 agenda as a request to rezone the Cawthon Road acreage for proposed poultry houses. That request then reached an April 6 county public hearing, where commissioners considered the project after the Planning Commission recommended approval by a 3-0 vote; its chair abstained. The subsequent April 16 planning agenda recorded that the county commission had approved the requested rezone unanimously, turning the land-use request into a completed county action.

Applicant J. Todd Fleming described the plan at the April 6 hearing as four breeder-hen houses and said the operation’s water supply was intended to come from wells, according to the meeting minutes. The Planning Commission’s recommendation supported the rezone despite the chair’s abstention, and the Board of Commissioners is reported to have approved it 5-0. The materials identify the applicant and governmental bodies, but they do not record public comments, organized opposition or support, or competing proposals for the site.

What is settled is the commissioners’ reported approval of the zoning change from Agricultural to Agricultural Intensive. What remains a proposal is the poultry operation itself: the records describe four breeder-hen houses and wells as the intended water source, but do not document building permits, a construction start or finished facilities. They also do not state an effective date for the new zoning classification, so the timing of its implementation remains unclear.

The next public sign of follow-through would be county zoning documentation confirming implementation of the approved classification, followed by any permits or construction records tied to the proposed houses. Residents can now see that the rezone was approved, but the record leaves unresolved when it takes effect and whether Fleming will pursue, receive and act on any later approvals needed to build the four-house operation.