All members of the zoning board: Janet Hill, Morgan Robinson, Sam Nash, JF Hansford, Jimmy Shealy and planning director Jeff Sharp sit at the meeting on Oct. 15, 2026. The meeting had three items on the agenda and lasted seven minutes in length. (Ren Grimsley/The Oglethorpe Echo)
The Oglethorpe County Zoning Board voted 4-1 to approve revisions to the county’s subdivision ordinance to remove the exemption of large-parcel subdivisions if it creates three or more lots.
The changes, made at the zoning board’s Oct. 15 meeting, amend Section 1002 of Article X of the Unified Development Code to state that if a landowner splits a larger piece of land into three or more lots, they must adhere to major subdivision requirements.
The ordinance originally allowed lots that were divided into 25 or more acres to be free from subdivision regulations.
“We’ve had a few large tracts split up into 25-acre tracts, and they put a lot of pressure on those dirt roads,” said Jeff Sharp, the director of planning, zoning and compliance. “Those roads were not designed to have that many houses.”
Families in Oglethorpe County are exempt from new land subdivision regulations, if they plan to pass down land to their children. Landowners can split off a minimum of 1.5 acres to immediate family members, providing they meet the other requirements of the section.
Landowners must sign a deed restriction saying the lot cannot be sold outside the immediate family for seven years.
The revisions were passed by the board 4-1, with Jimmy Shealy voting no. No members of the public attended the meeting.
The revisions will go to the Board of Commissioners for a vote at its Nov. 2 meeting.
“I think that the real estate regulations and the development regulations are starting to infringe on private property rights,” Shealy said. “And this is just a further infringement.”
In other business, the board:
- Unanimously approved Wade Elgin’s request to add a stackhouse, a specialized agricultural facility meant for decomposing animal carcasses, at 255 Lower Wirebridge Road.
- Unanimously approved Tim Hayes’ request to rezone 95 Gresham Road from general agriculture to intensive agriculture because the lot was not zoned properly.
By: Ren Grimsley