With Lamar County experiencing consistent growth, county officials decided it was time to modify and clean up its regulations when it comes to divvying up land for sale or development.
The county's planning department already has drawn up a list of proposed changes, and Thursday morning the Lamar County Board of Supervisors took the next step toward making them a reality.
The board voted to advertise to hold public hearings about the proposals, giving developers and others interested in weighing in an opportunity to do just that.
"The subdivision regulations, the way they read now, there were a lot of gray areas and a lot of questionable things that were maybe not worded so clearly," said Tara Coggins, Lamar County associate planner. "So, we went in and made minor adjustments, to take care of those situations now, so there's no question about how things are done or what a specific definition means."
For example, development plans - known as plats - will have to show all required utilities, even at the preliminary stage. In another modification, definitions of what constitutes a "common driveway" as compared to a "private road" are spelled out
But Coggins said the modifications were kept minimal, so that when the county adopts a spot zoning plan in the future, it won't have to go back and completely undo what already had been done.
"(The regulations) will adapt again, according to whatever the zoning ends up being," Coggins said. "So that's why, right now, we only made the minor changes, nothing drastic, nothing that's going to throw anybody off."
The county also intends to adjust its fee schedule, shifting more of the cost to developers, especially those who don't practice due diligence the first time around, requiring their sites to be re-examined.
"The fee scheduling, the only reason we did that was to try and recoup some of the taxpayers' money, because when our county engineer reviews stuff, it comes out of the county's funds," Coggins said. "So, therefore, we're going to lay it back on the developer a little bit."
Only four supervisors attended Thursday's meeting, with District 4 Supervisor Fred Hatten absent while recovering from pneumonia.
In other action Thursday, the board;
Voted unanimously to ask the Oloh Fire Protection District to refund $51,027.92. The money had been funneled though the district, and was to have been dispersed elsewhere, including payments to the Sumrall Volunteer Fire Department, Hickory Grove Volunteer Fire Department and Oloh Volunteer Fire Department.
Lamar County Fire Coordinator George Stevens said the dispersal did not take place.
Took under advisement a proposal that would authorize Board President Joe Bounds to sign an agreement with PTS Solutions for the purchase, installation and training on its software for emergency-911 dispatching.
Some board members did a deep gulp at the $189,845 price tag - as well as another $24,877 in annual maintenance costs - and wanted to wait on Hatten's return before voting on such a big-ticket item.
Voted unanimously to change the name of Cross Creek Road in the Clear Creek Subdivision to Cooper Creek Road. The reason: confusion from the U.S. Postal Service with a similarly named road in Hattiesburg.
