The board approved five related variances Oct. 9 for Christie and Brooks Brittingham’s property on Penn Branch Road to permit a proposed minor subdivision and existing agricultural structures to remain at reduced setbacks.

The applicants requested three variances reducing front and side-yard setbacks for existing poultry houses from 200 feet to 100 feet, a reduction for a manure shed from 200 feet to 170 feet, and a reduced minimum lot width for the proposed new lot from 200 feet to 180.13 feet. The property is in the A-1 Agricultural District and the applicants said the requested relief is needed because the parcel is deeper than it is wide, limiting reasonable lot layouts while allowing continued agricultural use.

The applicants said the poultry houses predate the 2017 CAFO/poultry setback rules and that similar poultry houses in the area are closer to property lines than current code requires. They told the board the subdivision is intended to create lots for their three children and represented that septic reserves and other infrastructure had been considered for the new lots. A board member asked about the year the poultry houses were built; the applicant replied they predate the CAFO regulations (reported as built in 2016–2017 era). No members of the public spoke in opposition.

A motion to approve the variances was made, seconded and the board recorded no opposition in the minutes. The board noted the proposal would preserve agricultural use of the property while allowing family subdivision; final subdivision approval and any health-department septic or other utility approvals remain required at the permit/subdivision review stage.