Commission accepts first reading of derelict-vehicle ordinance; public hearing closed

Habersham County commissioners accepted for first reading a proposed derelict-vehicle ordinance on March 17, 2025, directing county staff to return with the ordinance for a final vote at the next meeting.

Planning and code enforcement staff presented the proposed ordinance as a replacement for a previously deleted provision in the county’s development code. Mike Beauchamp summarized the draft as defining a derelict vehicle as an unregistered, junked, dismantled, inoperative or abandoned vehicle that remains on private property for more than 30 days; the measure also would prohibit storing derelict vehicles on public rights-of-way and set a notice-and-abatement procedure that can move unresolved cases to magistrate court.

Beauchamp said the ordinance is intended to address individual cases of yard blight — not county-licensed junkyards, which remain governed by separate rules — and includes a 14-day removal notice followed by magistrate-court procedures if property owners do not comply.

During the public-hearing portion of the agenda one member of the public said they were not yet prepared to speak for or against the draft because they had not heard the reading; commissioners noted this was the first reading and that a formal vote would occur next month. After concluding the public hearing, Commissioner Woodall read the caption that appears on the agenda and a motion to accept the ordinance for first reading passed unanimously.

County staff said the ordinance’s next step is return to the board for second reading and a final action at the following meeting.