Birmingham Hopewell Alliance

Land Use Education

Existing Fulton County Standards

Outlined below are a few key pieces of information you and your neighbors might find helpful as you become more familiar with the current Fulton County standards. Certain of this information may be particularly helpful as you begin to get involved in master planning, rezoning review, etc. Some often-referenced terms and their definitions include:

a. Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) - identifies what is allowable where - i.e. most of NW Fulton is currently zoned AG-1 - meaning 1 house per acre; septic only; no sewer and certain other vested rights are noted. The CLUP also defines Crabapple, the Birmingham Crossroads and Arnold Mill as Neighborhood Nodes, which means currently no more than a total of 100,000 sq. ft. of commercial and office space combined is allowable. Crabapple used to be defined as a Community Node, which would have allowed up to 350,000 total sq, ft. of commercial/office development. Several years ago the community was successful in impacting the size of the node in Crabapple.The Fulton County staff and a unanimous vote by the Board of Commissioners downgraded Crabapple from a community node to a neighborhood node.

b. Northwest Fulton Overlay - unanimously approved by the Board of Commissioners, this ordinance (i.e. and amendment to the CLUP) sets specific development standards and architectural standards for any non-residential development in NW Fulton. It also sets forth 13 specific intent statements regarding Fulton County's intentions to preserve the rural character of this area.

c. Zoning Resolutions - This specifically details current zoning categories in Fulton County and describes what is included and allowable within each category (i.e. AG-1, C-1, office/professional, industrial zonings, etc.).

d. Rural Preservation Plan - Unanimously approved December 5, 2001, this is an official amendment to the CLUP that helps to set guidelines and intents for preserving this unique area of Northwest Fulton. Specific ordinances will follow, but this initial document is a new "policy" of Fulton County that applies to all of Northwest Fulton County.

e. Watersheds - Crabapple is the dividing line, if you will, between different watersheds. The area just to the north of the Crabapple intersection is part of the Coosa watershed. The Coosa watershed has certain elements that help to keep this a no-sewer area. Having a map that depicts the different watersheds will help you understand some of the environmental constraints that should be a consideration to the size of a development here and whether sewer can be used as a mechanism to serve a development in Crabapple. There are very specific policies in place that deem the Coosa basin a no -sewer area. Remember, the lack of sewer is the primary reason this area, Northwest Fulton County, has remained lower density.

f. Sewer Basins - Different sewer basin have certain restrictions. Depending on which sewer basin certain land falls within can or should impact whether certain existing sewer facilities can service proposed increased development. There are maps available via Public Works that show these different basins.

g. Community Checklist for Rezoning Action Planning - a comprehensive list of actions necessary for the review of rezonings in your area will be provided free of charge to Alliance members involved in the potential rezonings in their areas

h. Getting to the Fulton County Web site - The Web site is located at http://www.co.fulton.ga.us Getting to the right screen takes some navigation. Here's the route: Once you arrive at the site, click on "Departments." A list pops up. Click on "Environmental and Community Development." A new screen appears with staff names and resumes. At the bottom of the screen, click on "expanded version of the Environment and Community Development" Web site. A screen appears. Click on "Zoning schedule." When that screen appears, click on "Status of current zoning cases." At that screen, click on "North/current." When that screen appears, it offers links to all current information about a particular zoning case, such as the agenda the case appears on; the staff analysis of the zoning petition; Planning Commission's recommendations, etc. NOTE: The County gives each rezoning case a number. You can find the number by going directly to www.fultonecd.org/zoning/agenda01.htm