Union County Multifamily development ordinance adopted

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga – After a public hearing and two readings, the multifamily development ordinance was officially adopted for Union County.

The ordinance establishes regulations for any developer seeking to build apartment complexes in the county. It sets building accessibility, setbacks, safety, water and sewer, maximum height, bumpers, and road regulations. Previously, a multifamily development ordinance wasn’t included in the building code.

Multifamily apartment complexes must be 1,000 feet apart from each other and independent structures must be 25 feet apart. The minimum setbacks are from the rear of the property 40 feet, 30 feet from the side, 20 feet from the front with no parking, and 40 feet from the front with parking, sidewalk, and yard.

A few residents came to the adoption meeting and continued to express concerns about future development in Union County.

“Based on everything we know, it’s going to be very difficult for somebody to come in now and build a set of apartments following these guidelines,” Sole Commissioner Lamar Paris stated. “This doesn’t mean it’s the say all, do all for now until the end of time, but what we’re trying to do right now is to legally slow down the process and to make it safer and better.”

Any potential developer would have to work with the city and the county if they want to build outside of the city limits. The city controls water and sewer.

“Regardless of what codes you have to meet. I don’t see any in here that reflect how the construction is going to be built,” Union County resident Wesley commented. He also asked about fire protection and the potential cost associated with permanent fire protection and employees to service apartments.

Paris said apartments won’t be built without access to city sewer, and right now, it doesn’t extend very far outside of city limits. Public sewer is necessary for an apartment complex.

One area where the sewer might extend in the future is along Hwy. 76, but the city still needs the money for that project. Also, it’s unclear when the road widening project will begin. GDOT continues to push the start date.

“Can we cover everything right now? No. When I first came into office, we didn’t have a billboard ordinance. We didn’t have an ordinance on cell towers. There were just so many things we didn’t have. As they became a problem, we addressed them,” Paris explained.

The county’s trying to stay away from zoning and keep property rights intact.

At this time, Union County doesn’t have a planning committee either, but it might in the future. The multifamily development ordinance was necessary because when the moratorium went into effect in 2019, four developers were interested in building apartments.