The Buckingham County Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of a request to rezone 89 acres from Agricultural 1 to Agricultural Comprehensive to operate poultry facilities.

County Administrator Rebecca Carter said the decision by the commission was unanimous with the exception of District Three Commissioner Pat Bowe, who was absent.

The proposed project, which would be two turkey houses, would be located on a 86-acre parcel on Francisco Road. The proposed turkey houses are set to be 63 feet by 704 feet and would contain approximately 25,000 turkeys per house.

The property owners are included on the application as Ruby Harris (life estate) in the care of David and Faye Bryan. The applicant is Justin Bryan.

The houses would be operated through a contract with Cargill Foods.

“Currently the land is a mixture of timberland and farmland,” the application cited. “With the approval of this permit we will be able (to) continue to keep the land as farmland and have a more stable income for our family farm.”

The Buckingham County Board of Supervisors set a public hearing March 11 for a separate application by Ben Manis for two turkey houses proposed in the area of Deer Run Road.

This article has been corrected from its original version.