Chapter 12 — Commercial and Office Districts, Article 10 — GENERAL SITE DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN REGULATIONS FOR ALL
Purpose and Intent.
Careful attention to attractive and citizen-friendly urban design is in the economic interests of the County, its citizens, and business owners. The County’s Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan places an emphasis on design guidelines to improve the aesthetic appearance and function of the County’s commercial areas. The Land Use Element reveals civic concerns over design-related issues, such as pedestrian access, safe bike routes, roadway landscaping and medians, attractive shopping centers, and less intrusive parking lots. Attractive and integrated urban design features tend to improve the County’s image, raise overall property values, attract new businesses and residents, and improve the quality of life. Investment in design features tends to result in a positive return on investment for government, private industry, and property owners. For example, the money spent on landscaped roadway medians, sidewalks, and street trees is likely to be amply returned in the form of increased tax revenue resulting from the overall increase in property values that accompanies attractive and desirable urban and suburban areas.
Much of the existing commercial development in Forsyth County, particularly development along the County's principal highways, is in need of aesthetic and functional enhancement. Existing conditions that are inconsistent with the objectives of the County’s Land Use Element include: chain link fencing enclosures of autos and trailers without adequate screening; various building materials and/or equipment stored in front yards in view of the traveling public;
continuous, uncurbed, highway access; old, dilapidated, and/or unattractive awnings and façade treatments; excessive signage in the form of fluttering ribbons, portable signs, sandwich signs, and welcome flags; a lack of front yard landscaping; storage/maintenance bay doors and loading areas facing the highway; dumpsters placed in front/side yards in unobstructed view from highways; and a general lack of interparcel access (i.e., connections between adjacent developments).
It is the intent of Forsyth County to require that new commercial developments install appropriate improvements and comply with general design regulations that are intended to improve aesthetic appearance and function. It is also the intent of the County to require substantial progress toward compliance with these improvement requirements and general design regulations in cases where existing businesses are expanded.
These design regulations are intended to merge traffic engineering, civil engineering, urban design, landscape architecture, and land use planning principles into a set of regulations for commercial developments and properties in the unincorporated areas of the County. The regulations are the minimum necessary to: preserve the carrying capacity of major arteries; reduce the number of vehicular turning movements to and from the major artery, thereby reducing the potential for automobile and pedestrian traffic accidents; encourage and promote the most suitable uses of land;
ensure the adequate grading and draining of developments; promote an environment which reduces the visual clutter and other distracting characteristics resulting from various aspects typical of urban and suburban commercial strip development; prohibit the needless, wasteful and purposeless aesthetic degradation of the County’s highway and major street corridors; and promote a more healthy environment.
Applicability.
This article shall apply to all properties located within all commercial and office zoning districts of unincorporated Forsyth County. New development shall be required to conform to these regulations. A substantial improvement of an existing development shall be required to conform to these regulations or make substantial progress toward meeting the regulations contained within this chapter.
Utilities.
All telephone and electricity transmission lines serving uses on site shall be installed underground.
Grading and Site Development.
Buildings and parking lots shall be appropriately drained so as to prevent damage to abutting properties or public streets. Grading plans for new development shall be submitted to the director, who shall disseminate the plans to all appropriate departments for review and approval, and all grading activities shall comply with approved plans. Stormwater management plans shall be submitted to the director and shall be reviewed by the Director of Engineering for review and approval, and all such drainage improvements shall be designed, installed and maintained in accordance with the standards of Ordinance No. 75 (Stormwater Management Ordinance) as adopted and as may be amended from time to time. All disturbed or graded ground areas of a building site not used for buildings or open storage areas shall be appropriately stabilized and grassed or covered with plants or landscaping materials.
Curb Cuts and Access Specifications.
All entrances or exits of any street or driveway, public or private, from or to any state highway shall be approved by the State Department of Transportation and the Director of Engineering prior to the construction of such entrances or exits and prior to the issuance of any development permit for any improvement to be served by such entrances or exits.
No curb cut or access driveway shall be permitted to be located closer than one hundred (100) feet to the nearest existing or proposed right-of-way of an intersecting roadway or closer than forty (40) feet to a side property line unless the adjacent property owner is in agreement with the encroachment of the driveway and approval is obtained from the Director of Engineering. Curb cuts or access driveways shall be no narrower than twenty four (24) feet from back of curb to back of curb. Strict adherence to these requirements may not be practical in all instances as determined by the Director of Engineering. The Director of Engineering may limit the maximum width of a curb cut and/or the number of curb cuts to a parcel as necessary when it is deemed to be of benefit to the safety and welfare of the public.
The Director of Engineering must approve any commercial or office development accessed by an easement. Such approval will only be granted upon verification that the proposed access maintains a safe and efficient transportation network.
In cases of a substantial improvement of an existing development on a site that does not meet these curb cut and access specifications, the applicant may be required by the Director of Engineering to prepare an access plan as part of plans for the substantial improvement that either meets these requirements or moves substantially toward compliance with these regulations. Approval by the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Director of Engineering shall be required, as applicable.
Additional right-of-way shall be dedicated to the public as required by the most current functional classification of Forsyth County roads as designated in the Major Transportation Plan. Roadway entrances and improvements, including necessary acceleration and/or deceleration lane(s) and right/left turn lanes, shall be designed, installed, and maintained as approved by the State Department of Transportation, as applicable, or the Director of Engineering, in accordance with State or County requirements, as applicable and as may be amended from time to time.
The following factors may be considered during the review and approval of a specific location of an entrance: 1)
The location of existing or planned median breaks; 2) separation requirements between the entrance and major intersections; 3) separation requirements between other entrances; 4) the need to provide shared access with other sites; 5) the need to align with previously approved or constructed access points on the opposite side of the street; 6) and the minimum number of entrances needed to move traffic onto and off the site safely and efficiently.
Interparcel Connections.
The standards below are intended to provide safe and convenient vehicular and pedestrian access within developments and between adjacent developments and to lessen traffic congestion and increase connectivity.
The Director shall have the discretion to waive this requirement if the anticipated land uses are incompatible.
Location of Loading and Unloading Areas.
All areas and facilities devoted to the loading and unloading of goods and merchandise shall be located to the side or rear of the building and lot. Loading and unloading areas shall not front the right-of-way of the highway or major street. Overhead doors for loading bays shall not face the highway or major street.
In cases where this regulation is not practical for new development, or in cases where an existing building to be substantially improved does not meet the requirements in this section, the property shall be screened from view from the highway or major street along the entire property frontage, except in cases where access areas are approved.
Buildings that are permitted to have overhead doors facing the public right-of-way shall incorporate design features so that aesthetic impact of the overhead doors is softened through architectural detailing, or staggering with recesses and projections.
Location of Parking Areas.
Parking areas shall be set back at least ten (10) feet from public rights-of-ways. Parking areas are encouraged but not required to be located in side and rear yards where such parking areas can be partially or wholly screened by buildings from the public right-of-way.
Open Display of Vehicles, Equipment, and Merchandise.
In commercial zoning districts where permitted, the outside storage or display of vehicles, equipment, and merchandise to be rented, leased, or sold, shall be visible along no more than thirty percent (30%) of the frontage of the property abutting the highway or major street, excluding approved driveway entrances and exits. Major streets include all roads classified by the Forsyth County Transportation Plan as minor arterial and greater and include Freedom Parkway, Ronald Reagan Boulevard and Old Atlanta Road. Screening may be accomplished by vegetation, by a building that meets architectural standards of this chapter, by an earthen berm, by a 100 percent opaque, solid wooden fence or wall, or combination of these screening methods. Vegetative screening must be specified on the applicant’s landscape plan. The use of low-lying landscaping that does not screen the display areas from view from the public right-of-way shall not be deemed to comply with this requirement.
Screening of Outside Storage Yards.
All areas devoted to the outside storage of vehicles, merchandise, and/or equipment not intended for display for public rent, lease, or sale, shall be screened from view from the right-of-way of the highway or major street along the entire property frontage, except in areas where access crossings have been approved. Screening may be accomplished by vegetation, by a building that meets architectural standards of this chapter, by an earthen berm, by a 100 percent opaque, solid wooden fence or wall, or combination of these screening methods. Vegetative screening must be specified on the applicant’s landscape plan. The use of low-lying landscaping that does not screen the display areas from view from the public right-of-way shall not be deemed to comply with this requirement.
Screening of Dumpsters.
All garbage dumpsters and other similar areas devoted to the storage of waste materials shall be screened on three (3) sides of said dumpster or area with a minimum six (6) foot high solid wooden fence, or a wall constructed of materials substantially similar in appearance to the building on site that complies with the architectural requirements of these regulations. In addition, said dumpster areas shall be gated on the fourth side, and the gate shall be architecturally finished.
Outdoor Lighting.
See Chapter 16.
Building Materials.
Building exteriors not screened from view from the right-of-way or any property line shall have an architectural treatment of brick, brick/frame, stone, or stucco, or another architectural treatment approved by the director. Any awnings shall be maintained in good order, and any dilapidated awnings or canopies shall be removed.
Building and Utility Appurtenances.
All water towers, cooling towers, storage tanks, and other structures or equipment incidental to the primary use of a building or site shall be architecturally compatible with the principal building or effectively screened from view from the public right-of-ways. All rooftop mechanical equipment shall be screened from the view from the public right-of-way and adjacent streets by material compatible with the building architecture, by the use of a parapet wall, or by specially designed rooftop penthouse enclosures. Ground mounted equipment such as power transformers and air-conditioning units shall be screened from view from public right-of-ways by fencing or landscaping.
Landscaping.
Every building site and commercial use area shall be landscaped. A minimum ten-foot wide landscape strip shall be installed and maintained along the entire property fronting the highway or major street, except in cases where access areas are approved. A minimum ten (10) foot wide landscape strip shall be required along all side and rear lot or lease lines, except in cases where access areas are approved. The area surrounding the road entrance(s) to the site or area, the front landscape strip, required parking lot landscaping, and all other required landscape and/or open spaces, shall be designed, installed, and maintained according to plans prepared by a professional landscape architect, architect, surveyor, engineer, or land planner submitted to and approved by the department. Landscaping shall be reviewed and approved via submittal of a landscaping plan prior to the issuance of a site development permit. Plantings shall be completed prior to issuance of a final plat or as built approval by the department. Tree installation and removal shall be in compliance standards provided in Ordinance No. 98 (Tree Protection and Replacement Ordinance), as may be amended from time to time, and administrative standards for the preservation and replacement of trees as adopted and as may be amended from time to time. The landscape strips required in this section shall not be required for any front, side, or rear lot or lease lines that require a buffer, which is equal to or greater than the depth of the otherwise required landscape strip.
Signage.
All signs in commercial districts shall comply as applicable with Ordinance No. 74 (Sign Ordinance), as may be amended from time to time.
Plans.
Site development as-built drawings, containing a boundary survey, location, elevation, height, and square footage of buildings, parking areas, utilities, walls, and stormwater facilities, pertinent site development data, and any other requirements of the Planning Director or Director of Engineering, shall be submitted to and approved by the department prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy.
Maintenance.
Commercially zoned properties require maintenance per Chapter 10-1.14.
Fencing.
ARTICLE XI, ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR LARGE-SCALE RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS 40,000 SQUARE FEET OR GREATER: