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Board clears Serenity Acres micro‑processing facility; planning commission conditions adopted
Summary
Southampton supervisors approved rezoning and a conditional‑use permit for Serenity Acres to open a small USDA- and wild-game processing facility, with conditions limiting hours, staffing and site operations.
The Southampton County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a rezoning from R-2 (residential) to conditional M-2 and a conditional use permit for Serenity Acres (Christine Sullivan and Veronica Prevost) to operate a micro-processing facility for wild game and USDA-inspected meat on Smiths Ferry Road.
Planner Jay Randolph summarized the application as a zoning change and CUP for roughly 0.75 acres of a 4.7-acre parcel near the Virginia–North Carolina line; the Planning Commission voted 8–0 to recommend approval with ten conditions. Randolph read the recommended conditions, which included compliance with USDA standards, no more than five employees, operating hours limited to 7 a.m.–7 p.m. Monday–Saturday (with extended hours during deer season), no Sunday processing, prohibition of tractor-trailer deliveries, same-day processing only (no overnight storage of customer animals), required site improvements for wastewater and parking, building code compliance, annual county inspections, and a 10x10 incinerator footprint limit.
Serenity Acres representatives described a business model emphasizing “no waste” by channeling offal and hides to local rescues and artisans; Veronica Prevost and Christine Sullivan explained plans to work with local organizations and food banks. Terry Zuerflu of the Western Tidewater Food Bank spoke in support, saying Serenity Acres provided protein to food distributions and helped keep local food systems resilient. Chef and food-bank partner Christian Leets also described recent cancelled USDA loads to emphasize local processing capacity needs.
After limited public comment in support from community partners and the applicant’s testimony about waste handling, a supervisor moved to accept the planning commission recommendation and the board approved the rezoning and CUP. The board will enforce the CUP conditions and perform annual inspections.
The permit explicitly bars tractor-trailer deliveries, limits employees, requires same-day processing, and restricts on-site incinerator size — all intended to limit neighborhood impacts.
