Planning commission directs staff to rewrite scenic-highway ordinance language and add notification requirement

OCONEE COUNTY, S.C. — The Oconee County Planning Commission on Monday directed staff to prepare revisions to the county's scenic-highway ordinance that would add a formal notice program and clarify which contiguous property owners must sign petitions seeking designation.

The commission took the action after public comment and a lengthy discussion about whether the county's scenic-highway process is effectively a zoning action and how much weight to give directly affected landowners. Planning commissioners instructed county staff to prepare redlined ordinance language that (1) adds a notice requirement for affected property owners, (2) removes an unclear sentence that would bar noncontiguous parcels from inclusion, and (3) rewrites the clause that currently requires "all persons owning a legal interest" to instead require signatures from owners of contiguous properties adjacent to a proposed corridor.

The matter returned to the commission after a 2024 application revealed what members called shortcomings in Section 26 of the county code. "In 2024, the planning commission reviewed an application for 1 of our…