§ 12M.8. Adoption and effective date.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners does hereby ordain, resolve and enact the foregoing Article XII-M to the Zoning Resolution of Fulton County, Georgia.

Design Guidelines for the Cedar Grove Community

The purpose of these design guidelines is to help preserve the rural nature of the Cedar Grove Community, the night sky, green space, vistas, the "country" feel, and open space. These guidelines are encouraged but are not standards. Therefore, noncompliance does not necessitate variances.

Site design:

All design strategies shall minimize changes to the existing topography and loss of mature vegetation and water features.

Minimize level grading. New developments should step with landforms and maximize preservation of existing vegetation and trees. Level grading of entire lots is to be avoided.

Transitions at property lines should seem natural for the surrounding terrain. Where the existing terrain is generally level, avoid newly graded slopes greater than 1:3 at property lines.

Cut and fill slopes should be rounded where they meet natural grade to blend with natural slope.

Natural contouring and re-vegetation are encouraged. Retaining walls should be faced with indigenous rock, brick and/or constructed to blend with adjacent surroundings.

Storm water retention for multiple sites should be combined into a lake as opposed to individual drainage ponds.

Permanent conservation easements should be established to protect water sheds, view sheds, and rare habitats.

Buildings, Courtyards:

Buildings should be oriented to avoid summer overheating.

Locate courtyards for optimum southern exposure in winter and provide for shading in the summer.

Locate buildings so that solar heat is naturally reduced on hot summer days by landscape strips and trees.

Coordinate corner buildings with adjacent developments. Generally, the primary mass of a building on a corner should not be placed at an angle to the corner. Angled or sculpted building corners and open plazas should not be precluded from corners. Vertical focal points to visually anchor corners are encouraged.

Street Standards:

Design Element	Community Boulevard (major thoroughfare)	Community Avenue (collector)	Community Street (minor street)	Community Lane (service drive, access)	Private Alley
Minimum right-of-way (feet)	60'	60'	54'	18'	16'
Maximum right-of-way (feet)	74'	74'	59'	22'	20'
Number of lanes	2—4	2—4	2	2-1	2-1
Travel lane width	11—12'	11'	10—11'	10'	8—10'
On-street parking allowed	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Minimum parking lane width	8'	8'	8'	-	-
Minimum sidewalk width	10'	8'	5'	-	-
Bicycle lane allowed	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	-
Minimum bicycle lane width	5'	5'	5'	-	-
Planting area allowed	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	-
Median allowed	Yes	Yes	No	-	-

 

Culs-de-sac are prohibited unless approved by the director.

Parking:

On-street parking (parallel, diagonal, and head-in) is encouraged.

All developments shall provide connectivity to adjacent developments to link buildings and open spaces together to minimize vehicular traffic and other impacts.

Courtyards should include such features as sculptures or fountains as focal points, moveable seating and tables, sunny and shaded areas, several entrances into courtyards, variety of textures and colors for visual interest, landscaping, covered and uncovered outdoor passageways.

Architectural features/enhancements:

Trim to include eaves, corner boards, gable and eave boards, pediments, friezes, lintels, sills, quoins, belt courses, balustrades;

Gables, dormers, pillars, posts, porches, recessed windows and doors, cupolas, bay windows;

Half-rounded or quarter-rounded roof gutters and down spouts integrated with trim;

Glass storefronts, transom windows, building wall offsets, projections, recesses, floor level changes, roof-line offsets;

Architectural treatments of front facades shall continue major features around all visibly exposed sides of a building.

Restaurants with outdoor seating should allow for ease of pedestrian circulation, adequate shade through the use of extended awnings, canopies, or large umbrellas, provide outdoor trash receptacles, and maintain clean and litter-free premises.

View Sheds:

All development proposals should arrange buildings to preserve views from adjacent properties and streets.

Locate courtyards, surface parking, and open spaces to align with view sheds from adjacent properties.

Locate drives, parking, and open spaces on high points. Avoid placing buildings except churches or public buildings of high architectural quality on ridge lines.

All new developments will be reviewed with respect to topography and existing landforms, existing vegetation and trees, soil properties and bed rock depth, existing watercourses, floodway and flood plain areas, drainage patterns, climatic factors and view sheds.

All new developments will be reviewed for land use and site organization in relation to building form, character, and scale of existing and proposed development, sensitivity and nature of adjoining land uses, location of adjacent roads, rights-of-way, driveways, offstreet vehicular connections, pedestrian ways, access points, easements, existing structures and other built improvements, prehistoric and historic sites, structures and routes, and any other features that may be impacted or impact the proposed new development.