CAIRO — A five-month moratorium on the construction of chicken houses will have to wait at least two more weeks to expire following a vote Tuesday by the Grady County Board of Commissioners to table an early lifting.

The moratorium, originally implemented by commissioners in March and extended in May, puts a hold on the construction of new chicken houses operations, which nearby residents argue are unsightly and foul-smelling. Though the moratorium is already set to expire September 1, commissioners considered lifting the order this week after county officials say they discovered that the state Department of Agriculture already provides oversight for chicken houses and has mechanisms for removing non-compliant operations.

“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel if it already exists,” said County Administrator Buddy Johnson. “We just didn’t realize that the Department of Agriculture had a resource that a citizen can go directly to that can handle a majority of the complaints we get about chicken houses.”

The discovery came at an hours-long workshop held earlier this month, along with discussions with residents and code enforcement officials.

Implementation of the moratorium was meant to allow the commissioners time to evaluate the issue, including why so many chicken house operations have cropped up in Grady County in recent years. Johnson, who has previously stated that the county has seen a “major influx” of chicken house permits issued within the past two years, suggested that the county’s surplus of available real estate may be one reason as to why the operations are coming to the area.

“Mitchell County has got real estate too, but you don’t see them over there,” said Commissioner June Knight.

Commissioners voted 4-0 to table to matter. Commissioner LaFaye Copeland was not present for the vote.

An additional workshop will be convened Tuesday, August 25 to allow commissioners a chance to examine the issue further. The meeting will be held in the commissioners’ boardroom.

“I don’t want to stymie growth in Grady County,” said Commissioner Phillip Drew, “I just want to make sure that we’re doing it the right way.”