Demorest’s land-use rewrite remains unresolved nearly two years after hearing

Nearly two years after Demorest officials opened a public hearing on possible changes to the city’s land-use code and regulations, the public record still does not show whether the City Council ever made a decision. Mayor Jerry Harkness opened the Nov. 12, 2024 hearing at the Demorest Municipal Conference Center, 250 Alabama St., according to signed council minutes, but those minutes do not record an adoption, rejection or other final action.

The unanswered question carries practical consequences for residents, property owners and prospective builders because land-use rules shape how land may be used and developed. The documents do not identify the proposed amendment language, the uses or parcels that might have been affected, or an implementation date, leaving the public unable to determine from the recorded materials whether the rules changed, remained in place or were sent forward for later consideration.

The matter reached the November hearing through a series of procedural notices. Minutes from Sept. 3, 2024 gave notice of a hearing on land use and possible amendments, though the excerpt does not establish that the September hearing was opened or completed. Oct. 1 minutes then gave notice of the Nov. 12 hearing. That later proceeding did occur at least to the point that Harkness opened it, but the signed November minutes stop short of documenting what followed.

City officials framed the hearings around land use and potential amendments to Demorest’s land-use code and regulations. The minutes do not preserve competing positions from council members, residents, property owners or developers, nor do they describe the substance of any proposal. As a result, the record establishes that the city placed possible revisions before the public-hearing process, but it does not allow readers to fairly assign support or opposition to particular changes.

What is documented is procedural: the council scheduled hearing steps in September and October 2024 and opened the November hearing. What remains undocumented is more consequential: no proposed amendment text, recorded vote, adopting ordinance, denial or effective date appears in these materials. The October notice proves a hearing was scheduled, not its outcome, and the November minutes’ account of an opened hearing is not proof that a code change took effect.

The next concrete public step would be a later City Council agenda, hearing notice, ordinance or set of minutes that identifies the language under consideration and records the council’s action. Such a record could establish adoption, rejection, a revised proposal or another hearing. Until then, Demorest’s documented history leaves the central question undecided: whether the city amended its land-use regulations after the 2024 hearings, left them unchanged or continued the matter without final action.