Cashiers recodification put on hold after state law change, staff says

At its June 22 meeting, the Cashiers Area Community Planning Council was told staff has paused the Recodify Cashiers zoning project because of a 2024 state law change that limits local downzoning without property-owner consent.

Planning Director Michael Poston told the council the law (referred to in the meeting as the "Helene disaster relief bill") means proposed development standards could create many nonconforming structures and would likely require written consent from well over 600 property owners before any downzoning could take effect. Poston said the legislature has considered options over recent cycles to return some authority to counties or to rely on case law to clarify implementation.

The Recodify Cashiers effort, launched after community engagement on preferred development types and architecture, had sought to move some applications away from quasi-judicial processes toward conditional, legislative zoning. Poston said the county will not proceed with the full recodification until the legal constraints are clearer and noted staff may revisit process changes in the future if state law evolves.

The item was discussed as part of planning updates; staff indicated there is no new adopted or published local ordinance stemming from the recodification work as of June 22, 2026.