In interpreting and applying this ordinance, the requirements contained herein are declared to be the minimum requirements necessary to carry out the purpose of this ordinance. Except as hereinafter provided, this ordinance shall not be deemed to interfere with, abrogate, annul, or otherwise affect in any manner whatsoever any easements, covenants, or otherwise agreements between parties. Whenever the provisions of this ordinance impose greater restrictions upon the use of land or buildings, or upon the height of buildings, or require a larger percentage of a lot to be left unoccupied than the provisions of other ordinances, rules, regulations or permits, or any easements, covenants or other agreements between parties, then the provisions of this ordinance shall govern.

No buildings, structures, or land shall be used or occupied; and no building, structure, or part thereof shall be erected, constructed, reconstructed, moved, enlarged, or structurally altered unless in conformity with the requirements of this ordinance.

No building or structure may be erected, or use established, unless upon a lot as defined by this ordinance except as provided in section 3-21.

Except as herein provided (see section 9-4), there shall be no more than one principal building or structure upon any lot in any residential district.

No open space shall be encroached upon or reduced in any manner except in conformity to the yard, setback, off-street parking space requirements, and such other regulations required by this ordinance for the district in which such building is located. Shrubbery, driveways, retaining walls, fences, curbs, and planted buffer strips shall be interpreted not to be encroachments of yards. (See section 3-24.)

No part of any yard, other open space, or off-street parking or loading space required in connection with any building, structure, or use by this ordinance shall be considered to be part of a required yard, or other open space, or off-street parking or loading space for any other building, structure, or use except as provided in section 7-6.

Except as provided in section 3-21, no lot existing at the time of passage of this ordinance shall be reduced, divided, or changed so as to produce a tract of land which does not comply with the minimum dimension or area requirements of this ordinance for the district in which it is located unless said reduction or division is necessary to provide land that is needed and accepted for public use.

No building, structure, nor any mandated buffer requirements, service area, or required off-street parking and loading facility, except driveways, shall be permitted to encroach on public rights-of-way.

Accessory buildings on residential lots, when located within a front or side yard, shall be located no closer to property lines than would be allowed for a principal building. Within a rear yard, an accessory building on a residential lot shall be located at least five feet from all rear property lines and eight feet from all other property lines, except that in the case of corner lots, accessory buildings shall be set back from the centerline of an abutting street right-of-way a distance equal to three-fourths the front yard setback established for the zoning district in which the accessory buildings are located. In the case of a through lot (see section 3-11) accessory buildings shall conform to front yard setbacks on both streets. Accessory buildings or uses on non-residential lots shall comply with front, side, and rear yard requirements established for the zoning district in which such buildings or uses are located.

3-9.1.

Accessory building on separate lot. An accessory building may be permitted, as a special exception by the county commission, on a separate lot from the lot of the principal building provided that: (a) the lot upon which the accessory building is to be located shall be within 400 feet of the principal use; and (b) all requirements, including use restrictions, established for the zoning district in which such accessory building is to be located shall be complied with; and (c) any structure or building erected shall meet the requirements of the Georgia State Building Code and shall be approved by the building inspector. In addition to the above requirements, the county commission may require design features such as buffer strips, screening, etc., as may be found necessary to protect the purposes of this ordinance.

3-9.2.

Swimming pools. Swimming pools (both in ground and above ground exceeding 24 inches in depth) accessory to residences or commercial uses shall be enclosed by a steel mesh security fence or other substantial building material affording equal or better access control. Said fence shall have a minimum height of four feet and include lockable gates approved by the building official. (See section 8-7 for Nonconforming pools.)

3-9.3.

Separation from principal use. Any accessory building of more than eight feet in height shall be located at least ten feet from the principal building.

No building shall be erected on a lot which does not abut an open public street (or an approved private street meeting current county development standards and duly approved by the county commission). Every lot shall abut such street for a contiguous and uniform width as dictated by the respective zoning district. For the purpose of establishing lot abutment and minimum width to an approved street, easements, flag lots, and inconsistent widths are not acceptable in lieu of minimum lot frontage and abutment standards. These design standards shall not apply to lots abutting the radius of a cul-de-sac, where lot width shall be measured at the building setback line.

In the case of a corner lot, side yard setback requirements from the centerline of the street right-of-way shall equal to 75 percent of that required for the front yard setback for the respective zoning district. On a corner lot where the main entrance into a residence is facing a side yard, it shall be permissible for purposes of this ordinance to interpret the residence to be fronting on the street other than that street which said entrance faces, and side and rear yard requirements may be provided accordingly. If a building is constructed on a through lot having frontage on two or more roads not at an intersection, a setback from each road shall be provided equal to the front yard requirement for the district in which the lot is located.

On corner lots within all zoning districts, no fence, shrubbery or other obstruction to the traffic sight vision, except utility poles or light or sign standards, shall exceed a height of three feet within a triangular area formed by the intersection of the right-of-way lines of two streets or a street intersection with a railroad right-of-way line, and a diagonal line which intersects the right-of-way lines at two points, each 20 feet distance from the intersection of the right-of-way lines, or, in the case of a rounded corner, from the point of intersection of their tangents; provided, however, signs, lights, or similar objects which are totally located at least 12 feet above the finished grade shall be permitted. (See illustration page 12.)

Visibility at Intersections

If either a use or class of use is not specifically indicated as being permitted in a district, either as a matter of right, or as a special exception, then such use, class of use, or structures for such uses, shall be prohibited in such district. (A text amendment to the use table to allow.)

In the event that a district boundary line on the zoning map divides a lot of record held in one ownership on the date of passage of this ordinance, each part of the lot so divided shall be used in conformity with the regulations established by this ordinance for the district in which such parcel is located; except, however, that if the property owner of such a lot so desires, he may extend a use allowed on either portion of said lot 50 feet beyond the district boundary line in accordance with setbacks and yard requirements of the district into which he is encroaching.

Within any residential district, no wall or fence shall exceed eight feet in height within or along a boundary of a rear or side yard. Within the front yard, all fences shall have a height limit of four feet.

In a P, CC, GB, WLI, and HI zoning district, where a lot abuts any residential district, a six-foot-wide buffer the entire length of the lot abutting the residential property shall be provided with screening as specified in section 3-19. Off-street parking associated with such uses shall be governed by this same provision.

Any service area, loading area, refuse, or storage area between a principal building and a public street being visible from said street and lying within 150 feet of said street shall be screened from view from the public street as specified in section 3-19.

Wherever screening is required by this ordinance, a durable masonry wall, or fence and hedge of sufficient opacity to provide a visual blind, designed to be compatible with the character of adjoining properties, shall be provided and maintained by the owner and his successors and assigns. Such fences and walls shall be at least six feet in height, but no greater than eight feet in height, measured from the ground along the common lot line of the adjoining properties. Hedges or comparable natural plantings shall be of such variety that an average height of at least six feet could be expected by normal growth within no later than three years from the time of planting. The owner/developer shall install the required screening prior to the issuance of the certificate of occupancy. Occupancy will not be allowed until the screening is completed as a part of the normal developmental requirements.

Within any nonresidential district, side yards and rear yards shall not be required adjacent to railroad rights-of-way.

Any lot of record existing at the time of the adoption of this ordinance which has an area or a width which is less than that required by this ordinance may be used as a building site for a structure or use permitted in that zone; provided, however, that the same yard, setback, open space, and other dimensional requirements are met that would be required for a standard lot, except as stipulated in section 3-25.

When a building is proposed on a lot and when on either or both lots which adjoin such lot at the street right-of-way line there exists a principal building which does not conform to the setback requirements of this ordinance, the required setback for such building shall be as follows: (1) where only one said adjoining lot contains a principal building with a Nonconforming setback the setback shall be the computed average of (a) the normal setback requirement with (b) the nonconforming setback, or (2) where both adjoining lots contain a principal building each with a Nonconforming setback, the minimum setback shall be the computed average of the two Nonconforming setbacks.

The height limits of this ordinance shall not apply to a church spire, belfry, cupola, dome, or ornamental tower not intended for human occupancy, monument, water tower, observation tower, transmission tower, chimney, smoke stack, conveyor, flag pole, radio or television tower, mast or aerial, parapet wall not extending more than four feet above the roof line of the building, and necessary mechanical appurtenances. (See section 3-26.)

Architectural features such as cornices, eaves, steps, gutters, and fire escapes may project not more than three feet beyond any required setback line, except where such projections would obstruct driveways which are or may be used for access for service and/or emergency vehicles; provided, however, that in the case of automobile service stations, motels, and similar uses which serve the motoring public, canopies shall be allowed over a driveway or walkways within the front yard not to extend from the principal building to a point any closer than 15 feet from the street right-of-way line.

When a lot of record has a width less than the frontage required in the district in which it is located, then the zoning administrator shall be authorized to reduce the side yard requirements for such lot; provided, however, that there shall not be less than an eight-foot side yard.

Chimneys, water, fire, radio and television towers, church spires, domes, cupolas, stage towers, and scenery lofts, cooling towers, elevator bulkheads, smokestacks, flag poles, parapet walls, silos, granaries, windmills, and similar structures and their necessary mechanical appurtenances may be erected above the height limits herein established after a proper variance has been obtained from the zoning board of appeals. Any such approval of a greater height shall be in accord with the flight approach zone maps on file with the zoning administrator of the Ben-Hill County, Georgia. All such height variances shall also be closely coordinated with the Fitzgerald/Ben Hill County Airport Authority and the Federal Aviation Administration.

a)

It shall be prohibited use in all residentially zoned districts and residential lots to park or store in the open, wrecked or junked vehicles, power driven construction equipment, used lumber, metal or rubbish, or any other miscellaneous scrap or salvageable material in quantity.

b)

Tractor-trailer combinations, tractors or trailers shall not be placed or stored in residentially zoned districts.

c)

Commercial kennels.

d)

Wrecked or junked vehicles in "open" buildings.

Recreational vehicles shall not be utilized as a permanent dwelling in any zoning district. Occupancy exceeding 30 days shall be considered permanent.

No mobile homes, defined as units constructed prior to June 15, 1976, shall be allowed to be sited within the unincorporated area of Ben Hill County. Only manufactured homes constructed to the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards governed by the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 5401, et. Seq. shall be permitted within unincorporated Ben Hill County.