Chapter 14 — Industrial and Mining Districts, Article 4 — GENERAL SITE DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN REGULATIONS FOR INDUSTRIAL

This article shall apply to all properties located within all industrial and mining 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.

All telephone, electricity, and gas transmission lines serving uses on site shall be installed underground.

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 for review and approval by the department and Director of Engineering, and all grading activities shall comply with approved plans. Stormwater management plans shall be submitted to the director for review and approval by the department and Director of Engineering, 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.

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.

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 left/right 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:

The location of existing or planned median breaks; separation requirements between the entrance and major intersections; separation requirements between other entrances; the need to provide shared access with other sites; the need to align with previously approved or constructed access points on the opposite side of the street; and the minimum number of entrances needed to move traffic onto and off the site safely and efficiently.

Interparcel connections are not required between developments in industrial and mining districts. However, connections between adjacent properties under different ownership within commercial and/or industrial districts may be provided when the uses of the properties are of such compatibility that truck traffic may be needed between buildings or uses.

Loading and unloading areas shall not be located closer than fifty (50) feet from the right-of-way of a public street.

All areas devoted to the outside storage of vehicles, merchandise, and/or equipment 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 a natural vegetative buffer, 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. The use of low-lying landscaping that does not screen the storage areas from view from the public right-of-way shall not be deemed to comply with this requirement.

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.

See Chapter 16.

Building exteriors not screened from view from the right-of-way or any property line shall be of masonry or decorative type metal construction with a twenty (20) year finish, its equivalent, or superior construction. Uncolored or exposed galvanized iron or aluminum or fiberglass shall not be utilized as an exterior finish. Prohibited construction materials shall include, without limitation, exposed concrete block, weeping mortar joints, unnatural brick tones, uncolored or exposed galvanized iron or aluminum or fiberglass.

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.

Every building site and industrial use area shall be landscaped. In addition to the minimum front landscape strip required in Table 14.2, a minimum six 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, front, side, and rear landscape strips, required parking lot landscaping, and all other required landscaping 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 completed prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy by the Department, unless appropriate provisions are made to guarantee the installation of landscaping after such certificate is issued, such as approval by the department of a bond for landscaping. Tree installation and removal shall be in compliance with 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.

All signs in industrial and mining districts shall comply as applicable with Ordinance No.

74 (Sign Ordinance), as may be amended from time to time.

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 director or Director of Engineering, shall be submitted to and approved by the department prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy.