On Dec. 2 the Effingham County Board of Commissioners approved several zoning ordinance actions intended to align the county code with recent planning work and correct inconsistencies staff found while updating the zoning code.

The board approved a second‑reading amendment to Part 2 Appendix C (home occupation) to align trailer-size limits with residential-business rules, settling on a 20‑foot trailer allowance after a brief exchange about whether the correct number in the code was 20 or 22 feet. A motion to amend and approve the second reading carried without opposition.

Staff also presented a first reading to revise the table of permitted uses in Article 4, including adding I‑1 (light industrial) uses to the table because the county has existing I‑1 parcels, adding home occupation as a permitted use in additional residential districts (R2–R5), clarifying a newly defined 'car brokerage' use (to be allowed as an office base rather than an export facility), specifying mulching as a conditional use in light industrial and a permitted use in heavy industrial, separating cremation services from cemeteries, and proposing 'mobile home supply' as a permitted use in B3 and industrial districts. Staff said item definitions will return for the second reading.

Commissioners also approved a first reading to amend subdivision regulations with new parking requirements, a visual for street‑extension parking, and a 50‑foot front buffer for major subdivisions intended to align regulations with the county’s master transportation plan. The board voted to advance the proposed changes; staff will return with final language and definitions.

Board members discussed buffer widths, the implications of matching I‑1 uses to heavy industry (which would automatically require larger buffers), and whether the permitted-use table should anticipate rezoning requests by including clear definitions for each use. Staff said the changes were meant to provide clarity and will come back with definition language before final adoption.