Responding to an a judge’s decision in a civil suit, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners has imposed an emergency temporary moratorium on property owners combining lots and has scheduled a public hearing in August to consider a 90-day extension.

The extension would give the board time to correct a section of its Unified Development Code. The county imposed the moratorium on July 12. The hearing on extending it is scheduled for the board’s regular meeting 5 p.m. Aug. 4, at the Forsyth Administration Building, 110 E. Main St., Cumming.

The issue arose after a Forsyth landowner sued the county over its refusal to allow him to combine adjoining land parcels to meet septic field requirements. Forsyth Superior Court Judge Philip C. Smith ruled that the county’s development code did not expressly prohibit the lot combination described in the lawsuit.

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Angie McBrayer, ex-wife of James Aaron McBrayer, leans her head on her son Sam McBrayer as she and her three children and two grandchildren (from left) Jackson McBrayer, 3, Piper Jae McBrayer, 7, Katy Isaza, and Jordan McBrayer, visit the grave of James McBrayer, Thursday, November 20, 2025, in Tifton. He died after being restrained by Tift County sheriff's deputies on April 24, 2019. His ex-wife witnessed the arrest and said she thought the deputies were being rough but did not imagine that McBrayer would die. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC