On Monday evening, a sizable crowd gathered at the Chattooga County Ag Center to discuss a permit issue raised by Commissioner Andy Allen regarding a poultry house in the Gore Community. Some residents surrounding the proposed chicken operation are considering legal action against the county after their lawyers stated a case against a permit given to a Floyd County resident to build poultry houses off Gore-Subligna Road by former Commissioner Blake Elsberry. 

Commissioner Allen says it is a problem he inherited when he took office.  A letter from the attorneys representing the neighbors around the proposed poultry operation was received in December at the Chattooga County Commissioner’s Office, but Allen was not made aware of the letter until he took office at the first of January.  Last night, in a meeting broadcast on social media by WZQZ, residents heard from the commissioner, the county code enforcement officer and the county attorney and others representing both sides of the issue.

Critics argue that Commissioner Allen has no grounds to revoke the permit for four poultry houses on nearly 40 acres. Some local poultry farmers believe the public should assess the lawsuit costs to taxpayers, asserting that the permit was legally obtained and that the current commissioner should not reverse the decision made by former Commissioner Elsberry. Allen insists that the county’s rules are being broken and stresses the importance of maintaining the ordinance for the community’s benefit.

You can see a video of the meeting below: