The purpose of this Ordinance is to establish minimum standards for the use of land and improvements in the City of Haralson, Georgia. This Ordinance seeks to encourage development of land within the City in accordance with the City of Haralson Comprehensive Plan. The promotion of land use is intended to reduce or eliminate the occurrence of conditions that may threaten the general health, safety and welfare of the residents of the City. This ordinance shall serve the following purposes:

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Promote proper use and location, height, bulk, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures; sizes of yards and other open spaces; density and distribution of population; use of buildings, structures and land for commercial trade, professional offices, industry, residential, recreational, sanitation, conservation, transportation and public activities and the percentage of land which may be occupied by structures.

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Reduce congestion, prevent overcrowding of land; to avoid undue concentration of population; to prevent urban sprawl; to facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sanitary sewer, parks and other public infrastructure.

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Promote desirable living conditions and the sustained stability and integrity of existing neighborhoods.

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Protect property against blight and depreciation; to conserve the value of existing buildings; to encourage the most appropriate use of land, buildings and structures throughout the City.

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Encourage designs that protect the natural environment and retain the character of the City by supporting a landscape and tree protection plan, green space and a higher level of order, prosperity and aesthetics.

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Secure economy in governmental expenditures.

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Protect and conserve the community's natural and historic resources.

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Develop and manage land and transportation networks to ensure the quality of the air and water.

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Define certain terms used in this ordinance.

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Establish certain land use zoning districts, the intent of each zoning district, and specifies the boundaries of those districts on the official zoning map.

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Establish procedures for administering, enforcing, appealing and amending the ordinance.

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Regulate the use of buildings and structures located within the corporate limits of the City.

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Provide penalties for violation of this ordinance.

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Define the power and duties, as they relate to this ordinance, of the City Council, as well as such administrative officers, bodies and agencies that the City Council may establish for the efficient exercise of the zoning powers of the City including but not limited to the zoning administrator and the Planning Commission.

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Repeal all conflicting ordinances, rules and regulations enacted by the City of Haralson, Georgia.

The zoning regulations and districts herein established are designed to create Traditional City and Neighborhood Development which shall embrace the following principles:

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Subdivisions, residential and commercial developments will not be isolated, closed or predominated by cul-de-sacs; but will be connected and integrated with other subdivisions and developments both existing and possible future developments by connected street systems, sidewalks, multi-use trails, greenbelts and open space so as to create an interconnected network of neighborhoods, residential and commercial developments.

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Residents, shops, workplaces and Civic Buildings are interwoven within the neighborhood, and all are in close proximity. A hierarchy of streets serves equitably the needs of the pedestrian and the automobile.

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Carefully placed Civic Buildings and Squares reinforce the identity of the City and Neighborhoods.

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Spatially defined Squares and Parks provide places for informal social activity and recreation.

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Civic Buildings provide places of purposeful assembly for social, cultural or religious activities, becoming symbols of community identity through their architectural clarity.

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Private buildings form a disciplined edge, spatially delineating the public street space and the private block interior.

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Promote general health and welfare.

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Provide consistency with the Land Use Elements of the Comprehensive Plan.

The requirements of these regulations are minimum permissible standards; and it is expected that developers and the respective decision making authority will normally strive for quality developments which will exceed these minimum requirements.

By this section, the comprehensive plan adopted by resolution of the city council of the City of Haralson is established as the official policy of the city concerning land uses. The incorporated areas of the city are divided into land use categories consistent with the future land use plan in the land use element of the comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan does not alter or affect the existing zoning districts in the city, does not effectuate an amendment to the official zoning maps, and does not itself permit or prohibit any existing land uses. The land use element of the comprehensive plan shall be amended on an as needed basis to reflect changes in land use and to discover any inconsistencies zoning changes have caused in the future land use map.

The Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan shall be periodically updated as the Mayor and Council see fit. This update shall be used to identify current uses of land, emerging growth patterns and any significant change in land use policy as identified by the Future Land Use map of the Comprehensive Plan. This update shall also be used as policy in the City's consideration of proposed amendments to the zoning map or text of the zoning ordinance. All amendments to the Comprehensive Plan shall be in accordance with the Minimum Planning Standards and Procedures of the Georgia Planning Act.