Franklin County Commissioners have agreed to schedule a public hearing to tighten up the language in the county’s littering ordinance.
The County litter ordinance was enacted in 1997 and sets penalties for people found dumping trash on public or private property in the county, as well as in local waterways.
Commissioner Jessica Ward said she felt the language needs to clarified so that homeowners understand that the county will not pick up land clearing debris.
The county does offer a service where it will pick up small yard trash like branches and bushes, if a homeowner leaves them on the county right of way, but there was recently a misunderstanding with a property owner who had cleared an acre lot and thought the county would remove the debris.
Commissioner Ward said she would also like to address the penalties in the litter ordinance, to make them a bit stricter.
The last time the litter ordinance was amended was in 2016, when the county actually reduced the penalties so that homeowners who are cited under the rule were not immediately facing a criminal charge for littering.
Instead, a first violation is now a 250-dollar fine.
In fact, it takes 4 violations of the litter ordinance before a person can be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor.
Commissioners said they would schedule a public hearing to address the ordinance, but have not yet set a date for the hearing.
The County litter ordinance was enacted in 1997 and sets penalties for people found dumping trash on public or private property in the county, as well as in local waterways.
Commissioner Jessica Ward said she felt the language needs to clarified so that homeowners understand that the county will not pick up land clearing debris.
The county does offer a service where it will pick up small yard trash like branches and bushes, if a homeowner leaves them on the county right of way, but there was recently a misunderstanding with a property owner who had cleared an acre lot and thought the county would remove the debris.
Commissioner Ward said she would also like to address the penalties in the litter ordinance, to make them a bit stricter.
The last time the litter ordinance was amended was in 2016, when the county actually reduced the penalties so that homeowners who are cited under the rule were not immediately facing a criminal charge for littering.
Instead, a first violation is now a 250-dollar fine.
In fact, it takes 4 violations of the litter ordinance before a person can be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor.
Commissioners said they would schedule a public hearing to address the ordinance, but have not yet set a date for the hearing.
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