Gainesville › Unified Land Development Code

Article 11 — Subdivisions and Land Development, Chapter 11-1 — GENERAL PROVISIONS

current as of 2025-12-16verified current · checked 2026-08-24Officialofficial source ↗12 sections · full chapter

§ 11-1-1

Purpose and Intent

This Article 9-11 is intended to serve the following purposes, among others:

(a)To protect and promote the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of the city;

(b)To encourage economically sound and stable land development;

(c)To assure the provision of required streets, utilities, and other facilities and services to new land developments in conformance with public improvement plans of the city;

(d)To assure adequate provision of safe and convenient traffic access and circulation, both vehicular and pedestrian, in new land developments, especially for the purposes of assuring that all building lots will be accessible to firefighting equipment and other emergency and service vehicles;

(e)To assure the provision of needed open spaces and building sites in new land developments through conservation subdivision design and the dedication or reservation of land for recreational, educational, and other public purposes;

(f)To assure the adequate provision of water supply, sewage disposal, stormwater drainage, and other necessary improvements;

(g)To assure equitable handling of all subdivision plats and land development plans by providing uniform procedures and standards for the subdivider and land developer;

(h)To assure, in general, the wise development of new land areas, in harmony with the comprehensive plan of the city;

(i)To assure the accurate description of property and adequate and proper identification of property in public records;

(j)To help conserve and protect the natural, economic and scenic resources of the city;

(k)To help eliminate the costly maintenance problems which develop when streets and lots are laid out without proper consideration given to various public purposes;

(l)To protect lot purchasers who generally lack the specialized knowledge to evaluate subdivision improvements and design.

§ 11-1-2

Delegation of Authority to Administrative Officers

The governing body hereby delegates to the appropriate administrative officers the authority to administratively approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove preliminary plats, final plats, lot combination plats, boundary line adjustments, and dedication plats; provided, however, such delegation does not authorize appropriate administrative officers to accept public improvements for the governing body. The Director of Community and Economic Development, the Director of Public Works, and the Director of Water Resources for the city are vested with the authority, as more fully described in this section and article, to review, approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove subdivisions and land development plans and permits.

(a)Director of Community and Economic Development. This administrative officer shall have final authority regarding the review and approval of land development plans and permits, preliminary plats and final plats.

(b)Director of Public Works. This administrative officer shall review land development plans and permits and review of streets and related public improvements and recommendations for acceptance of public improvements by the governing body.

The Director of Public Works is further authorized to promulgate additional technical standards and construction specifications for land development improvements not already specified by this Code, including but not limited to streets, driveways, curb cuts related to traffic flow, and parking lots.

(c)Director of Water Resources. This administrative officer shall have final authority regarding the design of water, wastewater and stormwater for subdivisions and land developments. The Director of Water Resources is further authorized to promulgate additional technical standards and construction specifications for land development improvements not already specified by this Code, including but not limited to water, sanitary sewer and stormwater systems.

§ 11-1-3

Land is One Lot Until Subdivided

Until property proposed for subdivision has received final plat approval and been properly recorded, the land involving the subdivision shall be considered as one lot, or as otherwise legally recorded.

§ 11-1-4

Subdivision of Land

(a)No person shall subdivide land except in accordance with this article and Code. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, owner, agent or subdivider, by deed or map, to sell, transfer, agree to sell, offer at public auction, negotiate to sell or subdivide any land until a preliminary plat, if required, and final plat have been approved by the Director of Community and Economic Development and final plat recorded in accordance with this article. Said restriction applies to lands subdivided for nonresidential as well as residential uses. The description by metes and bounds in the instrument of transfer or other document used in the process of selling or transfer shall not exempt the transaction from this article or from the penalties established for violations of this Code. The city through its attorney or other designated official may enjoin such transfer of, sale, or agreement by appropriate action.

(b)The Community and Economic Development Department may require that a final plat for multiple (five or more) lots being subdivided off an existing road be validated by stamp from the Public Works Department. The Community and Economic Development Department may also require that any final plat be validated by stamp from the Department of Water Resources and/or Hall County Environmental Health Department.

§ 11-1-5

Reference to State and Federal Land Subdivision Laws

The subdivision of land shall comply, as applicable, with the federal and state full disclosure requirements for land sales. All subdivision plats shall also comply with applicable state law regarding accuracy and content of all such subdivision plats.

§ 11-1-6

Special Review of Subdivisions Along State Routes

(a)No subdivision plat containing land which abuts a state route shall be approved until such plat has been submitted for review and comment by the state department of transportation, in accordance with the provisions of O.C.G.A. 32-6-151.

(b)Upon receiving such a plat, the city shall submit two copies of the proposed subdivision plat to the State Department of Transportation if such proposed subdivision includes or abuts on any part of the state highway system. The state department of transportation, within 30 days of receipt of the plat, shall recommend approval and note its recommendation on the copy to be returned to the Director of Community and Economic Development or recommend rejection. Failure of the State Department of Transportation to act within this 30-day period shall constitute approval. If the plat is recommended for rejection, the reasons for rejection and requirements for approval shall be given the Director of Community and Economic Development in writing; but such recommendation shall be advisory only and shall not be binding on the Director or Planning and Appeals Board.

§ 11-1-7

Lots Must Comply with Zoning Requirements

No person shall subdivide land, and the Director of Community and Economic Development shall not approve any subdivision of land, unless the lots created pursuant to said subdivision meet or exceed all applicable requirements of the zoning district and/or overlay zone, as applicable, and as may be amended from time to time.

§ 11-1-8

Improvements Required for Final Platting

No final subdivision plat shall be approved by the Director of Community and Economic Development or accepted for recordation by the Clerk of Superior Court until all improvements required by this article have been constructed in a satisfactory manner and approved by the Director of Public Works or, in the case of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater improvements, the Director of Water Resources.

§ 11-1-9

Lot Combinations and Boundary Line Adjustments

An existing lot line forming the boundary between two conforming platted lots located within the same subdivision or a lot line between lots or parcels that have merged to form one building lot may be removed or eliminated through a final plat revision process which conforms to the final plat requirements of Chapter 11-13. Where separate lots of land are proposed to be combined, they shall be submitted to the Director of Community and Economic Development as a final plat for review, approval and recording. In the case no final plat applies to the subject lots or parcels, a boundary survey and plat depicting all lots involved in the lot combination shall be required to be approved by the Director of Community and Economic Development and recorded as a final plat. Such combination plat shall be titled with the same name as that of the original subdivision, if applicable, and shall indicate that the replat is for the purpose of removing the lot lines between specific lots.

One or more existing lot lines forming boundaries between conforming platted lots located within the same subdivision, or one or more lot lines between abutting lots or parcels may be adjusted through a final plat revision process that requires the approval of the Director of Community and Economic Development and recording of a plat meeting the specifications of a final plat. In the case no final plat applies to the subject lots or parcels, a boundary survey and plat of the entire lots involved in the boundary line adjustment shall be required to be approved by the Director of Community and Economic Development and recorded. Such plat showing said boundary line adjustment shall be titled with the same name as that of the original subdivision and shall indicate that the replat is for the purpose of adjusting the lot lines between specific lots.

§ 11-1-10

Recordation and Transfer of Land

(a)All plats shall be recorded in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 15-6-67 and digitally recorded with the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority.

(b)The Clerk of Superior Court of Hall County shall not file or record a plat that would result in the division of a property into two or more lots that does not have the approval of the city as required by this article. The Clerk of Superior Court of Hall County shall not file or record a plat of a subdivision, whether evidenced as a plat or as an attachment to a deed, unless such plat is a final plat approved for recording by the Director of Community and Economic Development or designated representative and contains said officer's signature thereon.

(c)Any deed or other instrument of conveyance, including a security deed, bond for title, or any other document purporting to convey, then or in the future, title to real estate, filed for record with the clerk of the superior court, wherein the property to be conveyed is described in some manner other than by reference to a recorded plat, shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by the party filing such deed or other instrument, which certificate shall be in the following form:

I, ________________, do hereby certify that the instrument herewith filed for record in the Office of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Hall County, Georgia, does not involve the subdivision of property and does not subdivide a tract of land into two or more tracts or lots.

This ____ day of _______________, 20___.

______________________ (Signature)

§ 11-1-11

Exemptions from Plat Approval

The following types of land subdivisions, transfers, and sales are specifically exempted from the plat approval requirements of this article; provided, however, that such exemptions shall not apply to land development requirements and improvement requirements of this article or compliance with other applicable requirements of this Code:

(a)The creation and sale of cemetery plots.

(b)The sale of lots consistent with previously approved and recorded plats or deeds.

(c)The creation of leaseholds for space within a multiple-occupancy building or the division of property into leaseholds (but not for sale) for commercial, industrial, or institutional use.

(d)The creation of leaseholds (but not for sale) for the agricultural use of property where the use does not involve the construction of a building to be used as a residence or for other purposes not directly related to agricultural use of the land or crops or livestock raised thereon.

(e)Any division of land to heirs through a judicial estate proceeding, or any division of land pursuant to a judicial partition, or any division of land occurring from the foreclosure of a deed of trust; provided, however, that such exemption shall not require the city to issue permits if the resulting lots or parcels fail to meet any applicable zoning provisions regarding lot size, lot width, or other dimensional requirements.

§ 11-1-12

Development of Land

No person shall disturb or develop land except in accordance with this article and this Code. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, owner, agent or subdivider to disturb or develop any land until land development plans have been approved by the city and a land development permit issued, if required, in accordance with this article and this Code. No person shall commence construction of any improvements on any lot, prior to the approval of a preliminary plat if required by this article, nor prior to approval of submission of civil drawings and construction plans and issuance of a land development permit for said improvements as required by this article and Code.