Fearing A Lawsuit, County Changes Its Sign Ordinance

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners last week acted quickly to change the county’s sign ordinance in an effort to strip the document of any reference to the content of the signs and thus avoid a lawsuit.

The Board took the action at the urging of County Attorney Daniel Haygood, who told the Board he was afraid the existing sign ordinance left the county vulnerable to a legal challenge in light of the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in an Arizona case in 2015 greatly restricting how local governments can regulate signs.

In other action at its meeting last week, the Board approved, in a split vote, a variance to allow a pole barn built without a permit to continue to exist on residential property on Julian Drive.

The Board voted to go forward with expenditure of $1 million for a second aeration basin at its Calls Creek wastewater treatment plant.

The Board also voted to join an opioid law suit designed to bring back to the county resources from those who have benefitted from the epidemic.

For more on the story, including a video of the Commission meeting, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: County Attorney Daniel Haygood.