Businesses in Putnam County’s major commercial zone will now be allowed to have as many as three outside displays of the goods and services offered inside.
Some restrictions besides the three-display limit come with the zoning ordinance change approved unanimously on Dec. 2, by the board of commissioners. The allowance applies only to the C-1 zone. No displays may be placed in the front of the business. And a buffer is required if the business property is adjacent to any residential zone or property used as a residence.
However, the context for the decision appeared unclear. No one spoke for or against the measure during the public comment portion of the preceding public hearing.
District 2 Commissioner Daniel Brown was the only commissioner to comment before the vote, yet his point centered on how zoning decisions were the hardest part of a commissioner’s job.
“If you are wrong, it will come back and bite you,” he said. “And it’s like a bulldog. It won’t let go. The main thing is to be fair, but what is ‘fair’ to one person may not seem fair to another. In the end, you just have to do what’s right.”
The light agenda for the commissioners’ meeting also saw the approval of an alcohol license, the reappointment of Yvonne Harrell to another term on the county board of health, and an hourlong, closed-door session with county attorney Barry Fleming and his report dealing with a real estate matter.
State law allows three reasons for public bodies like county commissions to go into such closed-door “executive sessions” – real estate, personnel, and litigation.