Franklin BOC Tables Timber Ordinance

Franklin County Commissioners have tabled a plan to institute a new timber ordinance.

The County is one of the few in North Georgia with no laws regarding how and when timber should be cut.

According to the County Engineer John Phillips, this has presented a problem with damaged roads and debris left behind for the county to clean up after.

County Manager Beth Thomas says the ordinance is based on the State laws.

“We’ve been looking at it for about a year now to try to formulate an ordinance,” Thomas said. “What it is mainly is a notification process. The loggers or the land owners who want to harvest timber will have to notify the County and pay a bond. The ordinance will follow the state code.”

But as work began on the draft ordinance, the State House also began looking at revising its ordinance this legislative session.

At Monday’s regular meeting, Thomas advised the Board of Commissioners to wait to pass the county version.

“We are putting a hold on our ordinance for the moment because the (State) House is currently reviewing their ordinance and so we didn’t want to pass our ordinance now and then have to change it in three months,” Thomas said.

Under the State law, a person who cut down trees illegally can be arrested up to four years after the crime.

The suspect may then be charged with tresspassing and subject to arrest and fines from the state.

Those harvesting timber with the property owner’s permission must also supply the timber owner with the exact weight of the timber cut, the date it was cut, and in which county within 20 days of harvest.

Franklin County Commissioners plan to revisit their timber ordinance after this General Legislative term.