Pickens County commissioners adopt major land-use and development code changes
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Summary
The Pickens County Board of Commissioners approved wide-ranging amendments to land-use and land-development chapters intended to curb “overly built-up” development and add clarity to zoning, including new listed uses, changes to subdivision thresholds and enforcement provisions.
The Pickens County Board of Commissioners voted on a package of changes to the county's land-use and land-development regulations, approving amendments to Chapter 67 (land use and density districts and map) and Chapter 38 (land development standards) intended to tighten controls on higher-density development in unincorporated Pickens County.
The revisions, presented by Bill Wood of the Planning and Development Department, add 10 new listed land uses, delete two older uses and eliminate one existing land-use intensity district (urban residential). Wood said the changes respond to persistent public feedback about "overly built up areas" and are intended to "protect and preserve the public's safety, health, welfare and quality of life within unincorporated Pickens County." Wood is Planning and Development Director for Pickens County.
The package also moves the county toward clearer definitions and procedures: it reduces the threshold separating minor and major subdivisions from seven lots to five to align with state environmental health classifications; removes the outdated term "mobile homes" (which County staff said technically referred to units built before June 15, 1976) while retaining rules for manufactured homes; and clarifies how subdivisions are regulated both as land uses and as development standards under Chapter 38.
Commissioners and staff emphasized the proposals are meant to provide "guardrails" that preserve rural character while allowing "desirable growth." "The duty is employ all feasible means within unincorporated Pickens County to deter overly built up areas, to encourage desirable growth," Wood said. He described the changes as a phased approach: the current amendments are Phase 1, with additional land-use and land-development material to return for the July meeting.
During public comment several residents asked how the county balances unincorporated planning with municipal decisions, such as annexations or denser development inside Jasper. A commissioner replied that the county's land-use authority applies only to unincorporated territory and that municipalities set policy inside their limits; commissioners said they are attempting to codify practices they already use in votes and administrative reviews.
Commissioners voted to adopt the ordinance amendments to Chapters 38 and 67. The board also discussed enforcement upgrades: staff said the revisions create consistent violation definitions, penalties and remedies across chapters and would make it easier to address continuing violations without having to seek extraordinary judicial remedies.
The board closed the public hearing on the items and approved the ordinances; staff and commissioners said additional, more detailed changes are scheduled for the July meeting. That work will include additional listed uses, reorganizing the use list into categorical groupings (residential, commercial, industrial) and adding a new fire prevention and protection chapter.
