The Haywood County Board of Commissioners has announced a rescheduled public hearing to discuss proposed amendments to the county’s Code of Ordinances. The hearing will take place on Monday, February 16, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. during the regular meeting in the Historic Courtroom of the Haywood County Historic Courthouse at 215 North Main Street, Waynesville.
According to the notice, “The purpose of the hearing is to receive comments concerning proposed amendments to the full County of Haywood, North Carolina Code of Ordinances in advance of reprinting and recodification by American Legal Publishing. This public hearing was originally scheduled for the February 2, 2026 regular Commissioners meeting that was cancelled due to inclement weather.”
With one exception, most proposed amendments will not be adopted immediately after the hearing. Instead, they will be considered for a vote to move forward with recodification at a later date. “With one exception, the proposed amendments will not be adopted at the following March 2, 2026 regular Commissioners meeting, but will be subject to a vote to move forward in the recodification process with American Legal Publishing. The entire set of Ordinances, with all proposed amendments, will then be subject to adoption in open session upon return from the publishing company. The exception is Chapter 150, Building Regulations, which will be subject to a vote to adopt at the March 2, 2026 regular Commissioners meeting.”
Copies of all proposed changes are available for review on the Haywood County website and as hard copies in the Office of the Clerk to the Board at the courthouse.
Residents who wish to speak during the public hearing are encouraged to attend in person. The commissioners may set rules for participation such as time limits for speakers or appointing spokespeople if many individuals share similar views. “Persons wishing to be heard at the public hearing are asked to be present. The County Commissioners may adopt reasonable rules governing the conduct of the hearing including (i) fixing the maximum time allotted to each speaker, (ii) providing for the designation of spokesmen for groups of persons supporting or opposing the same position, (iii) providing for the selection of delegates from groups of persons supporting or opposing the same positions when the number of persons wishing to attend exceeds capacity… and (iv) providing for maintenance of order and decorum in conduct.”
In other matters related to Haywood County schools’ performance on standardized tests during recent years: In science ACT testing during 2022-23 among senior students in Haywood County school districts, about one-quarter were considered ready for college-level work; specifically, out of 430 seniors taking this portion of ACTs only 26% met readiness standards according to data from https://www.dpi.nc.gov/. Among juniors taking science ACTs that year—434 students—27.9% reached college readiness benchmarks (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/).
For reading proficiency on ACTs during that period: Of 430 seniors tested across county districts last year, just over two-fifths (42.1%) were deemed college-ready (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/), while among juniors—434 tested—40.8% met reading readiness standards (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/).
Math scores showed similar patterns: For seniors taking math ACTs (430 students), only 26% achieved college-ready status; among juniors (434 students), this figure was slightly higher at 28.3%, based on state education data available through https://www.dpi.nc.gov/.
Amy L. Stevens signed off as Clerk to the Board and noted that this notice would appear in The Mountaineer newspaper on February 4 and February 11.
