§ 6.1.1. Lot Parameters

A.

Lot  

1.

A parcel of land, either vacant or occupied, intended as a unit for the purpose, whether immediate or for the future, of transfer of ownership, or possession, or for development.

2.

For use as a development site, a lot must be a lot recorded as part of a plat in the Fulton County deed records.

3.

A development site may include a group of contiguous lots owned or functionally controlled by the same person or entity, assembled for the purpose of development. With permission from the Director, a development site may be treated as one lot, even though multiple tax parcels are included.

B.

Lot Lines Each lot line must have a designation of primary street, side street, common side or rear as follows.

1.

Primary Street Lot Line A lot line separating the lot from a primary street.

2.

Side Street Lot Line A lot line separating the lot from a side street.

3.

Rear Lot Line  

a.

A lot line which is opposite and most distant from the primary street lot line.

b.

On irregularly-shaped lots, the rear lot line is determined as the line connecting two points each measured 10 feet along the side lot lines starting from the intersection of the two side lot lines. This rear lot line is intended for the purpose of establishing the rear setback and lot depth only. When a rear lot line cannot be determined in this manner, the rear lot line will be determined by the Director.

4.

Common Side Lot Line Any lot line not considered a Primary Street, Side Street or Rear lot line.

C.

Primary and Side Street Designation  

1.

Where only one street abuts a lot, that street is considered a primary street.

2.

A multiple street frontage lot must designate at least one primary street. A lot may have more than one primary street. The Director will determine which streets are primary streets based on:

a.

The pedestrian orientation of the street, existing or proposed;

b.

The established orientation of buildings on the block;

c.

The street or streets abutting the longest face of the block;

d.

The street or streets parallel to an alley within the block;

e.

The street from which the lot takes its address; and

f.

The street with the highest classification or highest traffic counts.

D.

Lot Area Lot area is the contiguous land area included within the lot lines. Lot area does not include existing or proposed right-of-way, whether dedicated or not dedicated to public use.

E.

Lot Width and Lot Depth  

1.

Lot width is the distance between the two side lot lines measured at the primary street property line along a straight line or along the property line on a curvilinear lot.

2.

Lot depth is the distance between the front and rear lot lines measured along a line midway between the side lot lines.

F.

Lot Frontage  

1.

Lot frontage is the length of any lot line abutting a primary street, side street, alley (for rear-loaded townhouses only) or courtyard (for a cottage court).

2.

Every lot must have frontage upon a public street, private street designed and built to public standards, or required courtyard for a cottage court.

G.

Density  

Density is not specifically regulated. The maximum number of units allowed for single unit detached or attached is directly related to the minimum lot size of the underlying zoning district. The maximum number of units allowed for multi-unit residential dwellings is a function of lot size, utilities, easements, rights-of-way, stormwater, parking and height.

H.

Lot Coverage  

1.

Lot coverage includes:

a.

The horizontal area of the building footprint measured within the outside of the exterior walls of the ground floor of all principal buildings and any roofed accessory building on the lot; and

b.

Any impervious parking areas, driveways, walkways, steps, terraces, uncovered patios and decks, swimming pools, and any similar features. The Director may establish rules for determining the extent to which partially pervious materials are exempt from the lot coverage.

2.

In RU- and RT- zoning districts, lot coverage can be assessed at the individual lot level, with each lot meeting lot coverage independently, or at the project level, in which case the pervious areas required to meet the lot coverage for the whole development must be under common ownership and indicated on the recorded plat.

3.

100% area credit will be given for pervious pavers and 50% area credit for pervious concrete. Other materials will be evaluated upon request.

4.

For legal nonconforming lots that are smaller than the minimum lot area required by their respective zoning districts, lot coverage is calculated by accounting for the maximum lot coverage allowed in both the district and the nearest district with a smaller minimum lot area. The total area of the lot is divided in two parts, one as the minimum lot area of the nearest zoning district, and the other as the remainder of the total area. The respective maximum lot coverage is then applied to the two parts. As an example, the lot coverage of a lot in RE-1 that is 34,000 sq.ft. in size is calculated as the sum of 27,000 sq.ft. at 30% and 7,000 sq.ft. at 25%, for a the maximum lot coverage of 9,850 sq.ft.

5.

In RE- and RD- districts, the base maximum lot coverage may be supplemented by 5% if mitigation measures are implemented. The mitigation consists of providing stormwater infiltration for the additional impervious area beyond the base maximum lot coverage at a rate of 2.4 inches in 24 hours.

I.

Outdoor Amenity Space  

1.

General  

a.

Outdoor amenity space is common outdoor area provided in a development for use by all of its occupants for social and recreational activities. Outdoor amenity space may also be provided for use by the general public, in addition to occupants of the development.

b.

Examples of outdoor amenity space include swimming pools, playgrounds, sport courts, dog parks, gardens, community gardens, parks, greens, pavilions, seating areas, plazas, common balconies, rooftop decks or rooftop gardens.

2.

Standards  

a.

Required outdoor amenity space must be provided on the lot and be accessible as outdoor space. A required landscape buffer may not be used to meet the outdoor amenity space requirement.

b.

Required outdoor amenity space may be enclosed on two sides or less by walls (with or without a solid roof cover) or enclosed on three sides by walls without a solid roof cover.

c.

Required outdoor amenity space may be located at or above grade. In RM-, RX- and CC- Districts, outdoor amenity space must be located at grade.

d.

Required outdoor amenity space may be met in one contiguous outdoor area or in multiple outdoor areas on a lot and must have a minimum area of 625 square feet with no dimension less than 25 feet.

e.

Required outdoor amenity space must not be parked or driven upon, except for emergency access and permitted temporary events.

f.

At least 50% of the total amount of required outdoor amenity space at grade and 25% of required outdoor amenity space above grade must be planted with groundcover, shrubs or trees. For the purposes of this Section, turf grass is not considered groundcover.

g.

Seating must be provided at the rate of 1 seat for every 500 square feet or fraction of 500 square feet. Seats may be permanent or movable. Two linear feet of bench or seat wall equals one seat.

h.

When a path is located in a natural setting (such as a stream buffer) or other greenspace that cannot be used as amenity space in its entirety, the path may count towards the outdoor amenity space area calculation by using a width of 25 feet, multiplied by the length of the path.

( Ord. of 4-17-2018(4) , §§ 6-1—6-2.1)