Auburn approves SPLOST list

A voter referendum could be held as soon as March.

CHARTER CHANGES

At a public hearing preceding the council meeting, there were no responses to three proposed amendments to the city charter. The amendments, which addressed city vehicles, mobile homes and sign ordinances, were discussed extensively at the council’s September 16 meeting.

The council approved all three amendments last week.

The first amendment makes wording of the “Valid License Tag on Stored Vehicle” ordinance consistent, so that stored vehicles are not required to have a valid tag. They will “still have to meet other ordinances so they can’t be defined as junk vehicles,” City Planner Larry Lucas said.

The second amendment removes age restrictions on mobile homes being moved into the city. This change, Lucas said, was necessary due to recent changes in state law prohibiting age as criteria to restrict mobile homes. Mobile homes will “still be subject to inspection” and will have to meet city “standards of habitation,” Lucas said.

The third amendment brings the city sign ordinance into agreement with “what the courts have ruled,” Lucas said, with regard to first amendment rights and how signs can be restricted. Basically, the city can regulate signs “by size, height, location and the number of signs,” Lucas said, not by content.

For more on this story, see the October 13 edition of the Barrow Journal or click here to read the full story online when you subscribe to our new e-edition.