County Manager Kevin King said Health Department Director Allison Cochran brought the matter to the commissioners requesting the outdated ordinances be taken off the books. 

“On both of them — they’re really not relevant anymore and there are already state laws that deal with most of it,” King said. “The USDA regulates meat markets and as for campgrounds, we just don’t have a need for it.”

The county’s meat market ordinance prohibits any individual or business from selling any meat products from a place of business that doesn’t posses a valid operation permit issue by the Swain County Health Department. It also prohibits the sale of meat products from any mobile unit. The county first adopted the ordinance in 1984 and revised it in 1989, but King said the county ordinance is just redundant to state law. 

The other ordinance being considered for dissolution is the county’s campground ordinance, which enforces minimum standards and requirements for design, density, construction, maintenance and operations of campgrounds. 

The ordinance requires campgrounds in Swain to obtain a permit from the health authority and places then subject to inspections of the property to check on conditions. The ordinance allows the health department to inspect soil, water and groundwater quality, sewage disposal and drainage issues to ensure the campground doesn’t pose health or safety hazards.    

— Jessi Stone, News Editor