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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

The Chilton County Commission’s long journey with the county’s subdivision regulations took its next step at the regular scheduled commission meeting on Feb. 25. After a lengthy public meeting on Feb. 20 that showcased proposed changes to the county’s regulations, Commissioners Alan Childress and Roger Perkins took the public’s comments and concerns into account and returned to the Commission with feedback.

After deliberations with the other commissioners about the feedback from the public meeting, the motion to suspend the current Chilton County Subdivision Regulations for three months so the Commission can have time to completely rewrite the regulations to explicitly differentiate between a developer and the individual citizen was passed in a 5-1 vote at the commission meeting on Feb. 25.

“I move that we provide for a temporary repeal of the Subdivision Regulations of Chilton County, Alabama, by amending the effective date of the Subdivision Regulations to Wednesday, June 28, 2025,” the resolution from Perkins said. “So that during the period of time from the approval of the motion through the end of Tuesday, June 27, 2025 (or sooner if new subdivision regulations are adopted), no subdivision regulations shall be in effect for Chilton County, Alabama.”

Commissioners Childress, Perkins, Darrell Bone, Sheila Hall and Chairman Allen Williams voted in favor of the motion, and commissioner Joe Headley voted against it. Perkins verified the verbiage of the resolution with the county’s attorney to ensure that it would do what they wanted it to do.

Perkins reiterated after reading the resolution that this was not something that this Commission is placing on Chilton County but something that has been in effect since 2015. This time period will allow the Commission to rewrite the subdivision regulations in a clearer manner that explicitly defines who a developer is, who an individual citizen is, and put the rules on the developer and not on the citizen. The concern was brought up that for the next three months anyone could do whatever they want with their land with no repercussions. However, there are still state regulations that are in place that will still hold things in check in the meantime.

Flashing back to the Feb. 20 public meeting, Courtroom No. 1 at the Chilton County Courthouse was filled with citizens ready to learn more about the proposed changes to the subdivision regulations from the Commission, and to make sure that their land situation would fall under the new proposal. Childress and Perkins made it clear to start the meeting that these were merely suggestions that the two have come up with after hours of research, meeting with citizens and other counties and commissioners in the state.

The meeting proceeded with Childress and Perkins presenting a multi-slide presentation that walked the crowd through the proposed changes that featured rewordings, additions, deletions and more. After the presentation, the floor was opened to questions from citizens about their own land that did not fall under the proposed regulations, and the public comments escalated into citizens requesting the regulations be thrown out completely. After an over two-hour meeting, the commissioners took the feedback with them and continued to work on a solution.

“It was a meeting designed to get public input and ideas and learn from that, and then try to take those to work on revisions and present them again to the Commission to be read into the minutes in two weeks,” Perkins said at the Feb. 24 work session for the Commission. “There were a lot of constructive ideas in that meeting that we took to heart, there was a lot of passion from the community and I want to thank everyone for coming out.”

Following the public meeting, misinformation was spread about the fallout, and Perkins tried to clear up some of those during his portion of the work session. In 2015, the current subdivision guidelines were adopted by a former Commission, and they admittedly did not fully read over the regulations before they were passed. About a year and a half ago, it was brought to the Commission’s and the campaigning Perkins’ attention about how strict the subdivision regulations were and how much restriction they were placing on the average individual citizen.

The biggest problem with the regulations were that they did not differentiate between a commercial developer who is trying to build what is widely thought of as a subdivision — multiple houses, curves and a new road that they want the county to make a county-maintained road, from the average individual citizen who is trying to just divide his property to give some land to a family member. Perkins made it clear the Commission wants the regulations to fall on the developer and not the individual.

“We as a Commission got a lot of input from everybody, and we set out to try to do one thing — separate the individual citizen from the developer,” Perkins said. “We are not talking about zoning, we are not talking about doing some on your property, saying what you can or cannot build or if you can sell an individual parcel. We did not speak about that … It got out of hand. We made it clear that was not the gospel, and we were there to take the input of the people.”

The input from the public to throw out the regulations completely is not the most responsible thing to do in Perkins’ point of view, but being able to change the regulations to clearly define who a developer is would be. Williams commended Childress and Perkins for their work on the regulations trying to make them better for the county. Williams was leaning towards making a motion to throw the regulations out, but he took into consideration the work Childress and Perkins have done and their determination to distinguish between a developer and citizen and allowed them the three months to do that.

“I told some people I would put that motion up, but I am not (now),” Williams said during the work session. “I am going to give these men three months to come up with what they need to come up with, and if it goes in the direction of what I just heard (tonight), I do not have a problem with it. I feel confident that is the direction it is going in.”

Also, during the Feb. 25 commission meeting, a motion to mandate Chilton County Road Department clearance for the construction of new turnouts or driveway culverts was passed unanimously. Williams worked with Chilton County Engineer Heath Sexton on coming up with a resolution regarding turnouts, or driveway culverts, in the county. As of March 1, construction of all new turnouts or driveway culverts located on county-maintained roads will first need the approval of the location and culvert size from the Chilton County Road Department before construction can begin. Any construction without prior approval from the road department is subject to removal by the department at the Commission’s discretion. This would not prevent someone from building a turnout or driveway culvert, but ensure someone is building one in a safe location and with the proper material.

Additionally, a motion was passed unanimously to allow the Chairman to send a letter to the Chilton County Water Authority that they may place new water meters without prior permission from the Commission. It was brought to the commissioner’s attention at the Feb. 20 public meeting that the water authority has told people that new water meters cannot be installed without permission from the Commission, which was not known to them. The motion approves the Chairman to write a letter to the water authority to allow the placement of water meters without the permission of the Commission first. However, the Commission is requesting notification of new water meters to be sent to Sexton after they are placed for notification purposes only.

In closing, Williams asked for the community’s support and prayers for fellow commissioner Butch Billingsley who was recently diagnosed with cancer and has begun treatment.

Also, during the meeting, the Commission:

• Approved the hire of James Dickens and Nicholas Cognasi as full-time deputy sheriffs and Treshun Dennis as a full-time correction officer for the Chilton County Sheriff’s Office.
• Approved to advertise and hire a Chilton County Park and Recreation Manager position.
• Approved the emergency hire of a part-time technician for the Chilton County Animal Control to help workload on current technicians.