The purpose of this article is to set forth required procedures for amendments to this chapter, including authorization to initiate amendments; public hearings on proposed amendments; application for amendments; guidelines to be considered in granting amendments; records of amendments; and limitations on re-applications.

(1)

Pre-application meeting prior to any submittal. Any person considering submitting a rezoning or special use application for a proposed residential development of 50 units or more, as well as a proposed commercial or industrial development, shall first hold a meeting with the community development director or his or her designee prior to submitting such application. The purpose of the pre-application meeting is to communicate the intent to seek a change of zoning, to understand the documents, the timeline and the responsibilities for submitting a complete application. Other department representatives may attend the meeting to provide input comments to the applicant. The meeting is required as a courtesy for applicants and to provide a forum for applicants to ask questions and learn more about the requirements related to the application. However, staff comments provided at such meeting do not relieve the applicant from being responsible for compliance with all aspects of the county's ordinances, even in the absence of comments related to an issue being provided by staff. Each applicant has the burden to know and become familiar with the county's ordinances and to comply therewith in pursuit of the application, irrespective of staff comments offered during the meeting.

(2)

Community information and input meeting (if required).

a.

Applicability. This requirement for a community information and input meeting applies only to rezoning applications for a residential development of 50 or more units. Failure to comply with the community information and input requirements herein will result in a request by staff to postpone the case until such time as the applicant demonstrates compliance.

b.

Purpose. Applicable applicants, as defined above, shall host a community information and input meeting after the proposed project has been presented in a pre-application meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to ensure early and effective communication with nearby property owners and interested citizens, giving them the opportunity to understand the proposed request for a change of zoning and to mitigate any impacts such proposal may have on the community. Community information and input is intended to facilitate fair, open and honest discussions between an applicant for rezoning or a special use permit, and citizens. Emerging out of these discussions should be a better understanding of the issues and an atmosphere for informed decision making. The desired outcome is for citizens and the applicant to work together to refine the proposal to mitigate any impacts the proposal might have on the surrounding community.

c.

Scheduling. No community information and input meetings shall be scheduled by any applicant on a weekend, on a regularly scheduled planning commission or board of commission meeting date, on a holiday recognized in the board of commissioner's holiday schedule, or from the Monday prior to Thanksgiving Day to the following Sunday, or from December 20th to January 3rd. No community information and input meetings shall be scheduled earlier than 6:00 p.m.

d.

Notification letters, area for mailing, and timing. Notification letters shall be mailed by certificate of mailing from the applicant at least 15 days prior to the scheduled meeting. The applicant shall include said certificates with the rezoning application. At a minimum, the notification letters must be sent to property owners within the following notification target area: All properties that lie within 500 feet of the legal boundary of the subject property. The basis for this target area is to provide an expanded notification area beyond the legal notification required for rezoning requests (adjacent properties) to enhance community information and input opportunities.

e.

Contents of community information and input notification letter. The notification letter shall meet the requirements as set forth by the staff of the community development department.

f.

Meeting protocol.

1.

The meeting location shall be held at a public facility near the community for which the applicant is seeking the rezoning request. The meeting location shall be within a five-mile radius from the location of the subject property. If no such facility is available, the applicant may propose an alternate location to be approved by the community development director or his or her designee prior to mailing of the notice.

2.

The applicant or authorized representative shall be available to answer questions of the general public for at least 30 minutes, and is encouraged to make a short presentation of the project to those present.

3.

The applicant or authorized representative shall provide the following material for the general public to view at the meeting:

i.

Dawson County Future Land Use Map and Zoning Map information for the subject property and nearby area.

ii.

Proposed concept site plan.

iii.

Contact information for the applicant or authorized representative.

iv.

Contact information for the Dawson County Community Development Department.

g.

Community information and input meeting summary. The applicant shall prepare a written summary report on the results of the community information and input meeting and submit this information, along with a copy of all certificates of mailing for each notification letter, to the staff of the community development department for submission with the rezoning application.

(Res. of 4-7-2023(1); Ord. of 9-18-2025(1), Exh. A, § 49)

(a)

The request by a property owner for an amendment shall be accomplished by filing an application with the county using forms prescribed by the county. There shall be a maximum of one residential development rezoning that includes 50 or more units allowed per month. There shall be a maximum total of five rezoning and special use applications allowed to be heard by the planning commission per month. This number shall not include variance applications, which are also heard by the planning commission.

(b)

All applications for amendments shall first be reviewed by the planning commission. The planning commission shall conduct a public hearing in accordance with the Georgia Zoning Procedures Law, as amended. After the public hearing, the planning commission's recommendation and draft meeting minutes shall be provided in writing to the board of commissioners.

(Res. of 4-7-2023(1); Ord. of 9-18-2025(1), Exh. A, § 49)

All applications specified in this chapter shall be submitted on forms provided by the county and shall be submitted with the documentation required for each type of application. The planning director is hereby authorized to establish administrative deadlines for the receipt of applications and associated information in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Public hearings on proposed amendments shall be conducted in accordance with procedures set forth in article XI, section 121-373, of this chapter.

(Res. of 4-7-2023(1))

All applications for amendments must be in accordance with the procedures in this article, and it shall be the responsibility of the applicant to see that these procedures and required information are completed. County-initiated applications are exempt from these requirements, but shall otherwise follow all requirements of the Georgia Zoning Procedures Act.

(1)

Form. All applications shall be submitted using the appropriate application form as specified by the department.

(2)

Review of application completeness. Upon submittal, each application shall be subjected to a review of application completeness prior to being officially accepted by the county. An application shall be considered "complete" if it is submitted on the required form, includes all submittal information, including all exhibits specified by the director, and accompanied by the application processing fee as adopted by the board of commissioners and as may be revised periodically. The review of application completeness shall be conducted by county staff within seven business days of the submittal deadline. If the county determines the application is complete, the application shall be processed pursuant to this chapter. If the county determines that the application is incomplete, county staff shall notify the applicant of that fact via the contact information provided and specify the ways in which the application is deficient. All incomplete applications shall receive no further processing until the deficiencies are corrected. All fees are nonrefundable once the application has been determined complete.

(3)

Boundary survey. All applications shall be accompanied a boundary survey prepared by a registered land surveyor, and one copy of the boundary survey shall be reduced to a size of eight and one-half inches by 11 inches.

(4)

Site plan minimum requirements. All applications shall be accompanied by a site plan and one copy of the site plan reduced to a size of eight and one-half inches by 11 inches. For applications for properties greater than 20 acres, the required site plan shall be prepared in full compliance with this subsection by a land surveyor, professional engineer, landscape architect or architect licensed to practice in the state of Georgia and shall be stamped and sealed by such stated professional in accord with Georgia law. The site plan so prepared may contain a disclaimer, as allowed by industry practice or applicable licensure requirements that the site plan is not to be considered an engineered document. For applications regarding properties of 19 acres or less, the site plan shall comply with the minimum information contents described in this subsection, but need not be prepared by a licensed professional as noted above. If details submitted on a site plan do not meet numerical requirements as identified in this Code, a specific variance request shall be included on the submitted application. Unless otherwise specified in the board approval, the site plan submitted as part of the application shall be considered binding on the applicant.

(5)

The site plan shall at minimum contain the following information (as applicable):

a.

Proposed layout of streets, alleys, lots, and pedestrian circulation systems;

b.

Lot or tract dimensions with required setbacks shown;

c.

Required and proposed buffers;

d.

Required and proposed, landscape areas, common areas, and open space;

e.

Proposed structures with square footages (except for single-family residential subdivisions);

f.

Proposed uses for each structure;

g.

Existing and proposed zoning districts of the subject property and abutting property;

h.

Proposed and existing location and use of all structures on the subject property;

i.

Existing and proposed right-of-way locations and dimensions and names of all roads and streets bounding the subject property;

j.

Driveways and parking areas with number of supplied parking spaces;

k.

Loading and unloading facilities;

l.

Preliminary and existing locations of storm drainage and structures;

m.

Preliminary and existing locations and point of access for major utility lines;

n.

Preliminary and existing wastewater facilities including areas reserved for drain fields and septic tanks or point of access, sewer easements and manholes;

o.

Tax map/parcel number and owner name of subject property and all abutting property owners as shown on current county tax map records;

p.

General location of existing tree canopy as indicated on the county GIS aerial photography; and

q.

Preliminary locations of environmental conditions such as streams, wetlands, watershed protection districts, flood hazard areas, river corridor boundaries, groundwater recharge areas and constrained lands.

(6)

Confirmation of paid taxes. A copy of the paid tax receipt for subject property or a statement by an official in the tax commissioner's office or other official document issued by the tax commissioner's office indicating taxes have been paid for the last year.

(7)

Letter of intent of the proposed use(s) of the property. Uses different from those stated in the application or letter of intent may be considered a violation of this resolution and may result in a notice being delivered to the owner and the zoning applicant, if different, advising that a county-initiated rezoning to a constitutional zoning designation for the subject property may occur or other remedies under this chapter.

(Res. of 4-7-2023(1))

Whenever consideration is being given to an amendment to this chapter, the planning commission shall make its recommendations and the board of commissioners shall make its decision based on the following criteria:

(1)

The existing uses and classification of nearby property;

(2)

The extent to which property values are diminished by the particular land use classification;

(3)

The extent to which the destruction of property values of the applicant promotes the health, safety, morals, or general welfare of the public;

(4)

The relative gain to the public, as compared to the hardship imposed upon the individual property owner;

(5)

The suitability of the subject property for the proposed land use classification;

(6)

The length of time the property has been vacant under the present classification, considered in the context of land development in the area in the vicinity of the property;

(7)

Whether the requested zoning would result in a use which could create an excessive or burdensome use of existing streets, transportation facilities, utilities or schools;

(8)

Whether the proposal is in conformity with the policy and intent of the future land use plan; and

(9)

The specific, unusual, or unique facts of each case, which give rise to special hardships, incurred by the applicant and/or surrounding property owners.

(Res. of 4-7-2023(1))

Any approved rezoning of property to include approval of a special use permit, where there has been no application for land disturbance permit submitted within 24 months from the date of the zoning approval shall result in a notice being delivered to the owner and the zoning applicant if different, advising that a county- initiated rezoning to a constitutional zoning designation land use designation for the subject property may occur if no land disturbance permit application is tendered within 30 days of said notice. Upon no land disturbance permit application being tendered within the timelines set forth in this paragraph, the property shall be placed upon a board agenda for consideration of a county-initiated rezoning. Nothing contained within this paragraph shall impair or otherwise limit the board's authority to initiate a rezoning of the property at any time subject only to vested right considerations. For purposes of this paragraph, an application for a land disturbance shall mean a complete application for a permit submitted to the department and the appropriate fee(s) paid.

(Res. of 4-7-2023(1))

No application of a property owner for an amendment to the text of this chapter or to the district map shall be considered by the board of commissioners within a 12-month period immediately following a previous denial of such request or the final conclusion of an appeal thereof, whichever is later, except the board of commissioners may permit a new application, if in the opinion of the board of commissioner's new evidence of a change of circumstances warrants.

(Res. of 4-7-2023(1))

Withdrawals of any application shall be accommodated administratively by the planning department if requested before the planning commission or board of commissioner's agenda is set. Therefore, withdrawals may not be made after ten days prior to the scheduled planning commission meeting hearing, or ten days prior to the scheduled board of commissioners meeting hearing, unless accompanied by written request stating specific reasons for withdrawal. Following that written request to the planning commission or the board of commissioners will vote to remove the item from the agenda at the scheduled hearing. Should the withdrawal be denied, the item will receive deliberation and public hearing with a recommendation by the planning commission and/or decision by the board of commissioners. Further, the applicant is encouraged to be present at the hearing to substantiate reasons for withdrawal. Please note that no refund of application fee may be made unless directed by the board of commissioners.

(Res. of 4-7-2023(1))

See Dawson County Fee Ordinance.

(Res. of 4-7-2023(1))