Anderson County suing developer over website mimicking the county's planning commission
Anderson County has filed a federal lawsuit against an Upstate developer over a website that had mimicked and continues to criticize the county's planning commission.
The lawsuit seeks to have a website that used a county logo — AndersonCountyPlanningCommission.com — turned over to the county as well as get attorney's fees and potential damages from the website creator.
The creator is identified in the county's lawsuit as Joseph Beeson, a developer in Greenville. Beeson confirmed that it was his site in a phone call with the Independent Mail. He did not respond afterward to requests for a follow-up interview.
The website that was created in March 2020 was updated in November 2021 to remove the logo and add disclaimers that it is not a county-operated site. The color scheme of the website also changed to not mirror the county site.
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Beeson has been involved in a state-level lawsuit with the county's planning commission that led to the creation of a multi-part test for determining the standards planning commission members use when rejecting developments.
The mimic website, AndersonCountyPlanningCommission.com, says the county's planning commission is corrupt.
It's not a website from the county.
The real planning commission website is https://www.andersoncountysc.org/departments-a-z/planning-commission/
Anderson County's administrator Rusty Burns declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation.
The lawsuit was initially filed against an anonymous person and in early November the suit was amended to name Beeson as the website creator.
The website has a few areas people can click on including: About, posts, resources, terms and conditions and contact. There is one other item alongside those: "Anderson County Ordinance No. 2018-19."
That was an ordinance that set up a four-part test for planning commissioners to consider when they approved or rejected new projects. That ordinance came as a result of state-level litigation between Beeson and the county along with the planning commission members.
Online federal records show it is only the third federal lawsuit the county has brought, after a 2020 lawsuit against former administrator Joey Preston and a 1985 lawsuit against Easley Combined Utilities.
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Mike Ellis lives in Powdersville and tells South Carolina stories with a focus on Anderson County and Pickens County along with faith and investigations. He's always looking for the next story that people need to read, please send any tips or feedback to mellis@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Anderson Independent Mail: Anderson County sues over website critical of planning commission
