Planning Commission Rejects Slab Foundations, Approves Comp Plan

The Oconee County Planning Commission, in an 8 to 2 vote last week, rebuffed a proposal from the county administration to modify the county development code to restrict the use of slab foundations in residential construction.

County Administrator Justin Kirouac told Planning Commission members that the proposed changes merely codify what the Board of Commissioners has been doing in rezone cases, but that didn’t influence the majority of the Planning Commission members, who recommended that the Board of Commissioners reject the code changes.

About 80 people turned out for the Planning Commission meeting, but only four of them spoke about the proposed changes, all voicing opposition largely mirroring those who spoke at the March 19 meeting, when the Planning Commission tabled action on the proposed change in the development code.

In other action on Monday night, the Planning Commission, in a 9 to 1 vote, sent forward with its approval the draft of the county’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan.

The Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night will take up both of these recommendations from the Planning Commission, but it isn’t expected to take final action on either of item.

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

Pictured: County Administrator Kirouac before Planning Commission.