Oconee County will get three new billboards--two of them on Epps Bridge Parkway and one in Butler’s Crossing--as a result of a settlement the county has reached with Fairway Outdoor Advertising, a national outdoor advertising company with regional offices in Athens.

Fairway also agreed to remove three of the six billboards it currently has along U.S. 441–one for each of the new billboards it installs on Epps Bridge Parkway and in Butler’s Crossing.

It also agreed to withdraw three additional sign permit applications it had submitted to the county to install signs on Hog Mountain Road, Hodges Mill Road and Jordan Drive and not to seek any new sign locations in Oconee County for five years.

The county agreed to allow Fairway “to utilize digital displays” on the new billboards.

The county has been dealing with the challenge to its sign ordinance since September of last year, when Fairway sued the county in federal court.

The county announced a settlement in late May, but it didn't approve actual details of that settlement until the end of July. The county changed its sign ordinance on June 5 in response to the lawsuit.

For details of the settlement, the suit, and the changes to the sign ordinance, and for pictures of the proposed signs, go to Oconee County Observations.