Chattooga County’s land use ordinance, adopted hastily last year by Commissioner Blake Elsberry, is still not being enforced – even though it is almost a year old.  Commissioner Elsberry has appointed a commission to oversee the implementation of the ordinance, but the committee is still revising the original ordinance that Elsberry adopted.

The committee met this week and is still trying to come to a consensus on just what needs to be cut out of the massive ordinance adopted by the commissioner.  They are making progress, and say that they want to narrow the scope of the ordinance to deal with subdivisions and commercial developments.

The commissioner was cautioned by the county attorney and by the Association of County Commissions Georgia (ACCG) that the ordinance should be preceded by a study and public meetings, but the commissioner carbon-copied another county’s ordinance and adopted it within two weeks of the warnings he was given. Commissioner Elsberry says he will wait for the final changes to be made by the Land Use Commission before he formally adopts any changes.

The commissioner and the board he appointed all say that agriculture should be exempt from the ordinance, and that families that want to divide their land among heirs shouldn’t fall under the ordinance either.