Ben Hill County approves amendment to reinstate R‑class entries in zoning usage table

Ben Hill County commissioners voted Sept. 6 to adopt a resolution amending Appendix B Sections 4–6 of the county Zoning Ordinance, restoring several residential zone entries to the ordinance’s usage table for regulatory clarity.

County Manager Michael Dinnerman opened the public hearing on the proposed change, saying the zoning manual is “a living document” that can be updated. Zoning Administrator Lawton Lovett told commissioners that the county adopted a broadly updated zoning ordinance on Oct. 5, 2021, and that subsequent amendments had removed the R6, R6M, R9 and R15 entries from the usage table. Lovett said staff now believes removing the entries was a mistake and proposed putting those rows back into the table in Sec. 5 so the ordinance clearly regulates uses in those categories even though the county will not allow those zone types for new district lots going forward.

Lovett also described three related, specific edits: clarifying the definition of guest/worker housing to specify dwelling-size regulation; separating commercial and non‑commercial kennels in the uses table; and correcting a typographical error in Sec. 9‑3A.6.B of Appendix B. The county recorded no public comments during the hearing.

Commissioner John Mooney moved to approve the zoning resolution; Vice‑Chair Hope Harmon seconded. The motion passed with Commissioners Mooney, Harmon, Bennie Calloway and Chairman Steve Taylor voting yes and Commissioner Daniel Cowan absent.

The resolution returns the specified residential categories to the usage table to govern existing parcels and uses while preserving the county’s prior directive that those zone classifications not be assigned to newly created district lots. The commission did not specify further amendments or an effective date during the meeting.