The council’s approval is complete and recorded in signed minutes. The work-session request about section 14-24(a) is also documented, but the minutes do not reproduce the ordinance that was adopted. They therefore do not establish the update’s full final wording, whether any additional revision was made before passage, or how the city has since applied it in enforcement cases.
Historical recordDemorestarchived · approved
Demorest approves building-code cleanup aimed at expanding enforcement
The unanimous 2024 vote followed a proposal to let the city’s code enforcement officer administer rules previously assigned to police and the building code official.
At a glance
What this means now
The story
Demorest City Council unanimously approved a Building Regulations Code Update on June 4, 2024, voting 4-0 after a second reading of changes officials described as an ordinance cleanup to help the city’s code enforcement officer do the job. Councilman Allen made the motion and Councilman Bennett seconded it, according to signed regular-session minutes.
The change matters because building regulations are the rules city staff use to administer construction-related requirements. The proposal addressed who may enforce those rules: at its first reading, council was told the existing ordinance limited enforcement to police and the building code official, while the update would allow the code enforcement officer to enforce the code.
Council began the process May 7, 2024, when it considered the first reading of the proposed enforcement update. By the June 4 work session, members were reviewing the second reading, and the mayor asked that references in section 14-24(a) to the “most current edition” be changed to the “State of Georgia most current edition.” The council then took up the update in its separate regular session and approved it unanimously.
City officials framed the measure as an administrative fix, rather than a new building program, saying it would clean up the ordinance and enable the code enforcement officer to carry out enforcement duties. The mayor’s requested wording change focused on tying the standards named in section 14-24(a) to the current State of Georgia edition, a distinction that could shape which version of those standards applies as state editions change.
The council’s approval is complete and recorded in signed minutes. The work-session request about section 14-24(a) is also documented, but the minutes do not reproduce the ordinance that was adopted. They therefore do not establish the update’s full final wording, whether any additional revision was made before passage, or how the city has since applied it in enforcement cases.
The next useful public confirmation would be publication of the adopted ordinance or a later version of Demorest’s city code showing how the update was incorporated. Until that record is available, residents can verify the June 4 approval and the stated purpose of the measure, but not its complete operative text or its practical effect on future code enforcement.
Arguments in the record
Positions presented publicly
Officials described the update as a cleanup intended to allow the code enforcement officer to carry out enforcement duties.
The signed minutes confirm approval but do not reproduce the full adopted ordinance or show its later application.
What happened
How this issue got here
Open any step for its supporting record. A proposal remains labeled as proposed until later evidence establishes an outcome.
ApprovedconfirmedCouncil unanimously approves building regulations code update
City Council unanimously approved the Building Regulations Code Update, 4–0, after its second reading. The update was described as cleaning up the ordinance so the code enforcement officer could do the job.
+
Council unanimously approves building regulations code update
City Council unanimously approved the Building Regulations Code Update, 4–0, after its second reading. The update was described as cleaning up the ordinance so the code enforcement officer could do the job.
DiscusseddiscussedWork session reviews second-reading code-update wording
At a work session, council considered the second reading and the mayor requested changing references to “most current edition” in section 14-24(a) to “State of Georgia most current edition.”
+
Work session reviews second-reading code-update wording
At a work session, council considered the second reading and the mayor requested changing references to “most current edition” in section 14-24(a) to “State of Georgia most current edition.”
Appeared on agendaproposedCouncil begins first reading of building-code enforcement update
Council considered a first reading of an ordinance update that would allow the code enforcement officer to enforce the code; the existing ordinance limited enforcement to police and the building code official.
+
Council begins first reading of building-code enforcement update
Council considered a first reading of an ordinance update that would allow the code enforcement officer to enforce the code; the existing ordinance limited enforcement to police and the building code official.
Research the record