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Commission adopts amended open-burning ordinance to align with state law
Summary
On second reading commissioners adopted updates to Habersham County’s open-burning rules to bring local code into compliance with state statute cited by Georgia Forestry officials.
Habersham County commissioners voted Jan. 27 to adopt amendments to the county’s open-burning rules, revising Article 2 of Chapter 30 of the Habersham County Code of Ordinances to align local requirements with state law.
County staff said the changes correct discrepancies called out by the Georgia Forestry Commission and add the statewide numeric standards referenced in OCGA Section 12-6-90. The amendments revise general requirements, residential and construction-site burning, agricultural and right-of-way burning, and emergency burning provisions to conform with the state code citation cited by staff.
Staff confirmed routine operational details discussed in public comment remain: allowed burning hours are tied to daylight and darkness (so the start/end time varies by season). No members of the public spoke in favor or opposition during the hearing and the commission proceeded to a second reading and vote. A commissioner moved to adopt the revision as read; the motion carried by voice vote.
County staff said the amendments are intended to remove inconsistencies with the Georgia Forestry Commission’s requirements and to ensure local regulations match the statewide statutory framework.
The adopted ordinance will be codified as amendments to Chapter 30, Article 2, sections relating to general requirements, residential open burning, construction-site burning, agricultural/right-of-way burning and emergency burning. Staff said the change was mainly technical and designed to meet the Forestry Commission’s statewide numbers and related requirements.
The ordinance was adopted at second reading; staff will publish the updated code sections in the county code of ordinances.
