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Effingham County work session reviews proposed 50-foot subdivision buffers, enforcement and penalties
Summary
Effingham County commissioners at a Sept. 16 work session discussed proposed amendments to Section 3.4 of the county buffers ordinance that would require a 50-foot vegetative buffer for certain major subdivisions, allow installation of a 6-foot vegetated berm as part of that buffer, reinstate several zoning designations to the buffer chart, and create an enforcement regime including stop-work orders and minimum monetary penalties.
Effingham County commissioners at a Sept. 16 work session discussed proposed amendments to Section 3.4 of the countybuffers ordinance that would require a 50-foot vegetative buffer for certain major subdivisions, allow installation of a 6-foot vegetated berm as part of that buffer, add several zoning designations back into the buffer chart, and create an enforcement regime including stop-work orders and minimum monetary penalties.
A county planning staff member who presented the changes said the updates are intended to clarify the ordinanceintent, protect rear- and side-facing homes in new major subdivisions and address enforcement gaps that staff have observed since the ordinancewas approved on Nov. 7, 2023. "The buffer shall be replaced at a density of 3 times greater than the original required plantings, and a landscape plan shall be prepared and submitted to staff prior to the planting," the staff member said.
Why it matters: the proposal would change how developers must protect or replace…
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