CLARKESVILLE - Though it will be early 2016 before the discussion happens, the Habersham County Commission will consider adopting a "traditional" zoning ordinance as a means of streamlining land use in the county.
At its work session Monday afternoon, the commission heard from Community Planning and Development Director Mike Beecham, who explained there are problems with the current land use resolution.
"The biggest issue with the current resolution is that once you reach LI, low intensity district, anything is allowed," Beecham said. "Granted it requires a conditional use, which is approved by y'all, but anything is allowed in the low intensity district."
That often leaves the county commission deciding what is or is not allowed on property in Habersham County.
"Essentially, almost any use is allowed countywide, assuming it gets board approval," Beecham said. "What that's resulted in ... you end up with a lot of conditional use requests and it ends up being contentious with neighbor against neighbor, with the board in the middle. I personally feel that puts y'all in a bad spot, and also y'all end up essentially deciding on a case-by-case basis the land use for the county."
Beecham used the example of a garage business locating on Highway 365 that currently is zoned LI with a conditional use.
"If the business fails and a retail use wants to come in, even though the building's already there, they've got to come back to y'all for another conditional use because it's a different use category," Beecham told commissioners. "I think that ends up being a burden on the citizens and a burden on y'all as the board."
Beecham said once a commercial use is established within reason, it really doesn't make sense for an applicant to have to come before the commission to ask permission through the conditional use process.
"That ends up being a burden on the applicant and a burden on y'all," Beecham said. "You hear a lot of things that zoning kills property values. In my opinion, I think it would enhance the property values for 98 percent of the county."
Beecham, new to Habersham County, soon will be purchasing a home.
"I have no assurance that five years from now there's not going to be a convenience store behind me, just because it's zoned LI," Beecham said. "My house is zoned LI and behind me is LI, but they could still put in a convenience store. That's why I think a traditional zoning would protect the property values of the county residents."
Beecham said a traditional zoning ordinance should include seven to 10 districts that include the basic land uses in the county.
Some of the possible zoning categories could include agricultural, residential (a category for single-family, one-acre lots and one for multi-family housing), industrial, one or two commercial districts, a public institutional district, and planned development district, Beecham said.
Another concern Beecham raised is the family subdivision provision in effect in the county now.
"We've got a provision in there now called a family subdivision, which if I own 10 acres and it's zoned AG, which is supposed to be a 10-acre minimum lot size, I can cut off an acre and give it to my son," Beecham said. "Conceivably that's fine, but the son lives there for two years and doesn't want to live beside his old man anymore and he decides to sell the property. Our current regulations say he's supposed to sell it to a family member. I'm not an attorney, but I don't know legally speaking how we can tell someone they can only sell their private property to the family. I have grave concerns about that."
Beecham said his personal opinion is if it's not a big deal to cut off an acre, the county should re-write the ordinance to allow one-acre lots.
"That doesn't put us in the unenviable position of telling someone who they can sell their property to," Beecham said. "I'm very uncomfortable doing that."
Beecham said he also is concerned by the appeals board provision in the current land use resolution, placing the county commission in the position of ruling on whether a particular land use is appropriate.
"What I think should happen is if someone wants to make an appeal of my decision, they should go to the planning commission," Beecham said. "That's what you appointed them for, that's what they're paid for, and they should be the first line of defense on staff's decisions."
Beecham said an appeal of the planning commission decision could either go to the county commission or to superior court.
"Personally, I think y'all would be better served by it going to court, but that will be y'all's decision," Beecham told commissioners.
Beecham said a full article-by-article re-write of the county's land use ordinance would take a minimum of eight to 12 months, and pointed out it should be written for the long term so it doesn't have to be rewritten every five years.
"I think a traditional zoning ordinance would fix most of those problems," Beecham said. "There are problems with traditional zoning. Those tend to happen in high-growth areas. We're not there yet."
Banks, Rabun, Stephens and White counties, which border Habersham, all have traditional zoning ordinances, Beecham said.
Commissioner Sonny James asked how the proposal would compare to the comprehensive plan and the 365 Corridor Overlay.
Commission Chairman Andrea Harper said she has issues with the county's comprehensive plan.
"I was very disappointed in our comp plan because it looked like whoever did it just whited out some other town or other county and put Habersham in there," Harper said. "We are unique here...."
James agreed.
"I think the comp plan, as Chairman Harper said, was - for lack of a better term - hijacked when it was put together," James said. "It was totally hijacked by a group of citizens."
The county's revised comprehensive plan is due in 2018, so Beecham already has started taking a look at it as well.
"Right now we have about 20 different character areas in the county," Beecham said. "Near as I can tell, about half of them are the same thing. If they all say the same thing, just have one that describes it."
Commissioner Victor Anderson said when he served on the planning commission he realized no one really took ownership of the comp plan.
"Let's take ownership of the program," Anderson said.
County Manager Phil Sutton agreed, saying, "We can't hand it to an assigned committee that goes away."
Discussion on the matters will continue.
James said he needs more information before making a decision about how to proceed with land use regulation changes.
"I don't know about the other commissioners, but for me personally I would like to see a little bit more detail before we decide," James said. "I'd like to see something specific as to what you have in mind for zoning or land use, or whatever you want to call it, before I would consider changing it."
The commission will delve more into possible land use/zoning changes, the comprehensive plan and other topics during its winter workshop on Jan. 21 at the Clarkesville-Habersham County Library on Green Street in Clarkesville.
