Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Code Derelict Vehicles topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission gives first reading to derelict-vehicle ordinance for unincorporated Habersham County
Summary
The commission accepted first reading of a proposed ordinance updating code to prohibit derelict vehicles on private and public property; the ordinance sets definitions, notice and abatement procedures and authorizes magistrate-court enforcement and liens if owners do not remove vehicles.
The Habersham County Board of Commissioners on March 17 accepted for first reading a proposed ordinance to regulate derelict vehicles in the county’s unincorporated areas.
Planning staff (presented by Mike Beauchamp) said the draft ordinance would create a new article in chapter 42 of the Habersham County Code of Ordinances defining a derelict vehicle as an unregistered, junked, dismantled, inoperative or abandoned vehicle left on property for more than 30 days. The draft also prohibits storage of derelict vehicles on public property, creates a notice-and-abate process, and authorizes magistrate court hearings and liens for removal if owners fail to comply.
Beauchamp told commissioners the prior code contained only a brief prohibition that had been inadvertently deleted in a past amendment; staff worked with code enforcement to craft a fuller enforcement framework. He said the ordinance includes exceptions to avoid enforcement against decorative or historical vehicles on private property and does not target licensed salvage yards, which remain subject to separate rules.
During the public-hearing portion of the meeting no sustained opposition emerged; one attendee said they were “potentially against it” but had not yet heard the full text. Commissioner Woodall read the ordinance caption aloud on the record. After the public-hearing segment, a motion to accept the ordinance for first reading was made, seconded and carried unanimously.
Because this was a first reading, commissioners did not adopt the ordinance tonight; the item will return for final action at a subsequent meeting after the required notice and any additional review by the county attorney and staff.
Clarifying points provided by staff during the meeting included: the 30-day clock for removal of a derelict vehicle, a 14-day period for owners to respond after notice before magistrate proceedings, and that licensed junkyards remain regulated under a separate section of county code.
