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Franklin County commissioners repeal 2024 comp‑plan ordinance to end Growth Management Act litigation
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Summary
County legal staff told commissioners they should repeal a 2024 ordinance that amended the comprehensive plan after it was stayed following an appeal to the Growth Management Hearings Board; commissioners voted to approve the repeal, which county counsel said will terminate the litigation and restore the pre‑ordinance status quo.
The Franklin County Board of Commissioners voted to repeal an ordinance that amended the county comprehensive plan after the ordinance was appealed and stayed by the Growth Management Hearings Board. The board approved the repeal — identified in the meeting as ordinance two‑twenty‑25 — during its regular meeting after a legal presentation from Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Briggs.
Briggs told the board the original ordinance, adopted in 2024, amended the comprehensive plan to expand a LAMIRD (local area of more intense rural development). He said the expansion was appealed and the ordinance was stayed, meaning “it’s as if it never happened,” and that the stay arose because of applicable statute and the pending appeal by the attorney general’s office. “This ordinance will effectively repeal that ordinance that’s being challenged. That will effectively terminate that litigation,” Briggs said.
The deputy prosecutor explained that repealing the 2024 ordinance would restore the county to the status quo that existed before the ordinance and bring the county back into compliance with the state Growth Management Act. The board had no substantive questions before a motion to approve the repeal was moved and seconded; the chair called for the vote and commissioners answered “aye.”
The board did not direct further amendments to the comp plan during the meeting; Briggs said the repeal would allow staff to forward the repeal to the attorney general’s office and thereby terminate the litigation.
Votes at a glance: a motion to approve “ordinance two‑twenty‑25” was moved and seconded and carried by voice vote (recorded in the meeting as “aye”). The meeting record does not list a roll‑call tally by name in the transcript excerpt.
Why it matters: county staff said the repeal reverses a 2024 change to LAMIRD boundaries that had been appealed to the Growth Management Hearings Board. Repealing the ordinance ends that litigation and returns the county to the comprehensive‑plan status it had before the 2024 ordinance. Commissioners and legal staff treated the action as a single, discrete legal cleanup rather than a reopened policy debate.
What’s next: Briggs said staff will forward the repeal to the attorney general’s office and that should terminate the litigation pending against the 2024 ordinance. The board did not set a schedule for any replacement comp‑plan actions during the meeting.
