§ 79. Milledgeville-Baldwin County planning commission.

(1)

Creation and appointment. The board of county commissioners of roads and revenue for Baldwin County, Georgia (hereinafter referred to as the county commission), by resolution, and the governing authority of the City of Milledgeville (hereinafter referred to as the city commission), by ordinance, are hereby authorized to create a joint city-county planning commission which shall be known as the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Planning Commission (hereinafter referred to as the planning commission). The planning commission shall be comprised of five (5) citizens of Milledgeville or Baldwin County, two (2) of whom shall be appointed by the county commission, and two (2) of whom shall be appointed by the city commission, and the fifth member shall be chosen by the other four (4) members of the planning commission. In the event that a majority of the members of the planning commission are unable to agree as to the fifth member, he shall be designated by the judge of the superior court of Baldwin County. The members of the planning commission shall hold office for a term of three (3) years, and until their successors are appointed and qualified. No member of the planning commission shall hold any elective public office. Any vacancy in the membership of the planning commission shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the initial appointment. The appointing county commission or city commission shall have authority to remove any member of the planning commission for cause stated in writing and after a public hearing. No member of the planning commission shall be entitled to any compensation for his services as such, but shall be entitled to expenses incurred in performance of his duties as a member of the planning commission.

(2)

Organization, rules, staff and finances. The planning commission shall elect one (1) of its appointive members as chairman who shall serve for one (1) year or until he is reelected or his successor is elected. The planning commission shall appoint a secretary who may be an officer or an employee of the governing authority or of the planning commission. The planning commission shall meet at least once each month at the call of the chairman and at such other times as the chairman or board may determine, shall adopt rules for the transaction of business and shall keep a record of its resolutions, transactions, findings, and determinations, which record shall be a public record. The planning commission may appoint such employees and staff as it may deem necessary for its work. In the performance of its duties, the planning commission may cooperate with, contract with, or accept funds from federal, state, or local, public and semi-public agencies or private individuals or corporations, may expend such funds, and may carry out such cooperative undertakings and contracts. It may make expenditures for the purchase of required equipment and supplies. The expenditures of the planning commission, exclusive of gifts or contract receipts, shall be within the amounts appropriated for the purpose by the city commission or county commission who [sic] are empowered to determine, agree upon, and appropriate funds for the payment of the expenses of the planning commission or their respective shares thereof.

(3)

Principal powers and duties. It shall be the function and duty of the planning commission to make such careful and comprehensive surveys and studies of existing conditions and probable future developments and to prepare such plans for physical, social, and economic growth as will best promote the public health, safety, morals, convenience, prosperity, or the general welfare as well as efficiency and economy in the development of the Milledgeville-Baldwin County area. In particular, the planning commission shall have the power and duty to:

(a)

Prepare a master plan or parts thereof for the development of the municipality and the county.

(b)

Prepare and recommend for adoption to the city commission or to the county commission respectively a zoning ordinance or resolution and map for the municipality or the county or a specified portion thereof.

(c)

Prepare and recommend for adoption to the city commission or to the county commission respectively regulations for the subdivision of land within the municipality or the county, and to administer the regulations that may be adopted.

(d)

Prepare and recommend for adoption to the city commission or to the county commission respectively, a plat or plats or an official map showing the exact location of the boundary lines of existing, proposed, extended, widened or narrowed streets, public open spaces or public building sites, together with regulations to control the erection of buildings or other structures within such lines.

(4)

Miscellaneous powers. The planning commission may make, publish and distribute maps, plans and reports and recommendations relating to the plan and development of the municipality or the county to public officials and agencies, public utility companies, civic, educational, professional and other organizations and citizens. It may recommend to the executive or legislative officials of the municipality or the county programs for public improvements and the financing thereof. All public officials shall, upon request, furnish to the planning commission, within a reasonable time, such available information as it may require for its work. The planning commission, its members and employees in the performance of its functions, may enter upon any land, make examinations and surveys, and place and maintain necessary monuments and marks thereon, provided however, that the planning commission shall be liable for any injury or damage to property resulting therefrom. In general, the planning commission shall have such powers as may be necessary to enable it to perform its functions and promote the planning of the municipality and [the] county.

(5)

Reports on referred matters. The city commission and county commission may by ordinance or resolution provide for the reference of any matter or class of matters to the planning commission serving its political jurisdiction before final action thereon by the public body or officer having final authority thereon, with the provision that final action thereon shall not be taken until said planning commission has submitted its report thereon or has had a reasonable time, to be fixed in said rule, to submit the report.

(6)

Master plan. It shall be the duty of the planning commission to make a master plan of the municipality and [the] county and to perfect it from time to time. Such master plan may show, among other things, existing and proposed streets, highways, expressways, bridges, tunnels and viaducts and approaches thereto; routes of railroads and transit lines; terminals, ports, airports; parks, playgrounds, forests, reservations, and other public open spaces; sites for public buildings and structures; districts for residence, business, industry, recreation, agriculture, forestry; special districts for other purposes; limited development districts for purposes of conservation, water-supply, sanitation, drainage, protection against floods, and the like, areas for housing developments, slum clearance, and urban renewal and development; location of public utilities whether publicly or privately owned, including but not limited to sewerage and water-supply systems; zoning districts, and other planning features; together with time and priority schedules and cost estimates for the accomplishment of the proposals. The master plan shall be based upon and included [sic] appropriate studies of the location and extent of present and anticipated population, social and economic resources and problems, and other useful data. Such plan may be adopted, added to, and changed from time to time, by a majority vote of the planning commission. It shall be a public record, but its purpose and effect shall be solely to aid the planning commission in the performance of its duties.

(7)

Grant of zoning power. For the purpose of promoting the health, safety, morals, convenience, order, prosperity, or general welfare of the municipality or country [county] or both, the city commission and the county commission for the municipality or county, respectively, are hereby empowered, in accordance with the conditions and the procedure specified in this act [this section], to regulate the location, height, bulk, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of lot which may be occupied, the sizes of yards, courts, and other open spaces, the density and distribution of population, and the uses of buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, residence, recreation, agriculture, forestry, conservation, water supply, sanitation, protection against floods, public activities, and other purposes. Such regulations shall be made in accordance with a comprehensive plan and shall be designed to lessen congestion in the streets; to secure safety from fire, panic, and other dangers; to promote health and general welfare; and to provide adequate light and air; to prevent the overcrowding of land; to avoid undue concentration of population; to facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks, and other public requirements. Such regulations shall be made with reasonable consideration, among other things, of the character of the district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses, and with a view to promoting desirable living conditions and the sustained stability of neighborhoods, protecting property against blight and depreciation, securing economy in governing expenditures, conserving the value of buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land and other buildings and structures throughout the municipality or county or both.

(8)

Zoning plan and ordinance. Whenever the planning commission makes and certifies to the city commission or the county commission, respectively, a zoning plan, including both the full text of the recommended zoning ordinance or resolution or both and the maps, for the entire area of the municipality or for the entire unincorporated area of the county or for any militia district or land lot or land or water areas five hundred (500) feet wide on either side of any state or county highway or section of such highway or land or water areas five hundred (500) feet wide on either side of any water line of a stream or water reservoir or section thereof within the unincorporated area of the county, then the city commission or the county commission may exercise the powers granted to them in section (7) of this act [subsection (7)] and, for the purposes therein mentioned, may divide the municipality or county or above specified portions of [the] county into districts of such number, shape, and size as it may determine, and within such districts it may regulate the erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, and use of buildings and structures and the uses of land. All such regulations shall be uniform For each class or kind of buildings through each district, but the regulations in one (1) district may differ from those in other districts. The lawful use of any land, building, or structure that was existing and lawful at the time of the enactment or amendment of zoning regulations may, except as hereinafter provided, be continued although such use does not conform with the provisions of such regulations or amendments (hereinafter called a nonconforming use). The city commission or the county commission may provide in the zoning ordinance or resolution for the regulation of the continuance, restoration, reconstruction, extension or substitution of a nonconforming use. Such commission may also provide for the termination of any use of a building or structure or land that is not in conformity with the regulations of the district within which it is located either by specifying the period or periods in which the nonconforming use shall be required to cease, or by providing a formula or formulae whereby the compulsory termination of a nonconforming use may be so fixed as to allow for the recovery of amortization of the investment in such nonconforming use.

State Law reference— Militia districts, O.C.G.A. § 36-2-1 et seq.

(9)

Method of procedure. Before enacting the zoning ordinance or resolution, the city commission or county commission shall hold a public hearing thereon, at least fifteen (15) days' notice of the time and place of which shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality or county. No change in or departure from the text or maps, as certified by the planning commission, shall be made unless such change or departure be first submitted to the planning commission for review and recommendation. The planning commission shall have thirty (30) days within which to submit its report. If the planning commission fails to submit a report within the thirty-day period, it shall be deemed to have approved the change or departure.

(10)

Amendments. The zoning ordinance or resolution, including the maps, may be amended from time to time; but no amendment shall become effective unless it shall have been proposed by or shall first have been submitted to the planning commission for review and recommendation. The planning commission shall have thirty (30) days within which to submit its report. If the planning commission fails to submit a report within the thirty-day period, is [it] shall be deemed to have approved the proposed amendment. The provisions of the previous section relative to public hearings and official notice shall apply equally to all amendments.

(11)

Board of zoning appeals. The city commission and the county commission may each create a board of zoning appeals or they may create a joint board of zoning appeals. Any board of appeals shall consist of five (5) members who shall be appointed for a term of three (3) years and until their successors are appointed and qualified. The members of the board of appeals shall be appointed by the governing body which shall create it, except that if a joint board of appeals shall be created, two (2) members shall be appointed by the county commission, and two (2) members shall be appointed by the city commission, and the fifth member shall be chosen by the other four (4) members of the board of appeals. In the event that a majority of the members of the board of appeals are unable to agree as to the fifth member, he shall be designated by the judge of the superior court of Baldwin County. No member of the board of zoning appeals shall hold any elective public office. Any vacancy in the membership of the board of appeals shall be filled in the same manner as the initial appointment. The appointing authority shall have authority to remove any member of the board of zoning appeals for cause stated in writing and after a public hearing. No member of the board of zoning appeals shall be entitled to any compensation for his services as such, but shall be entitled to expenses incurred in performance of his duties as a member of the board of zoning appeals.

The board of appeals shall elect one (1) of its members as chairman, who shall serve for one (1) year or until he is reelected or his successor is elected. The board of appeals shall appoint a secretary who may be an officer of the governing authority or of the planning commission. The board shall adopt rules in accordance with the provisions of any ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to this act [this section]. Meetings of the board shall be held at the call of the chairman and at such other times as the board may determine. The chairman, or in his absence the acting chairman, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses by subpoena. The board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each question, or, if absent, or failing to vote, indicating such fact, and shall keep records of its examinations and other official actions, all of which shall be immediately filed in the office of the board and shall be a public record.

Appeals to the board of appeals may be taken by any person aggrieved or by any officer, department, board, or bureau of the municipality or county affected by any decision of the administrative officer. Such appeal shall be taken within a reasonable time, as provided by the rules of the board, by filing with the officer from whom the appeal is taken and with the board of appeals a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof. The officer from whom the appeal is taken shall forthwith transmit to the board all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken.

An appeal stays all legal proceedings in furtherance of the action appealed from, unless the officer from whom the appeal is taken certifies to the board of appeals after the notice of appeal shall have been filed with him that by reason of facts stated in the certificate a stay would, in his opinion, cause imminent peril to life and property. In such case proceedings shall not be stayed otherwise than by a restraining order which may be granted by the board of appeals or by a court of record on application, on notice to the officer from whom the appeal is taken, and on due cause shown.

The board of appeals shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal or other matter referred to it, and give public notice thereof, as well as due notice to the parties in interest, and decide the same within a reasonable time. Upon the hearing any party may appear in person or by agent or by attorney.

The board of appeals shall have the following powers:

(1)

To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by an administrative official in the enforcement of any ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to this act [this section].

(2)

To hear and decide special exceptions to the terms of the ordinance or resolution upon which such board is required to pass under such ordinance or resolution.

(3)

To authorize upon appeal in specific cases such variance from the terms of the ordinance or resolution as will not be contrary to the public interest where, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of the provisions of the ordinance or resolution will, in an individual case, result in unnecessary hardship, so that the spirit of the ordinance or resolution shall be observed, public safety and welfare secured and substantial justice done. Such variance may be granted in such individual case of unnecessary hardship upon a finding by the board of appeals that:

(a)

There are extraordinary and exceptional conditions pertaining to the particular piece of property in question because of its size, shape, or topography, and

(b)

The application of the ordinance or resolution to this particular piece of property would create an unnecessary hardship, and

(c)

Such conditions are peculiar to the particular piece of property involved, and

(d)

Relief, if granted, would not cause substantial detriment to the public good or impair the purposes and intent of the ordinance or resolution, provided however, that no variance may be granted for a use of land or building or structure that is prohibited by the ordinance or resolution. In exercising the above powers, the board of appeals may, in conformity with the provisions of this act [this section], reverse or affirm, wholly or partly, or may modify the order, requirement, decision, or determination, and to that end shall have all the powers of the officer from whom the appeal is taken and may issue or direct the issuance of a permit.

(12)

Enforcement and remedies. The city commission or the county commission may provide for the enforcement of any ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to the provisions if this act [this section] by means of the withholding of building permits and occupancy permits, and for such purpose may establish and fill the position of building inspector, individually or jointly. From and after the establishment of such position and the filling of the same, it shall be unlawful to construct, reconstruct, or alter any building or other structure without first obtaining a building permit from such building inspector or to use such building or structure or any land without first obtaining an occupancy permit from such building inspector; and such building inspector shall not issue any permit unless the requirements of this act [this section] and of any ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to it are complied with. A violation of any ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to the provisions of this act [this section] is hereby declared to be a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided by law. In case any building or structure is or is proposed to be erected, constructed, reconstructed, altered, converted, or maintained, or any building, structure or land is or is proposed to be used in violation of any ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to this act [this section], the building inspector, municipal or county attorney, or other appropriate authority of the municipality or county or any adjacent or neighboring property owner who would be specially damaged by such violation may, in addition to other remedies, institute injunction, mandamus, or other appropriate action or proceeding to prevent such unlawful erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, conversion, maintenance, or use, or to correct or abate such violation, or to prevent the occupancy of said building, structure, or land. Each and every day such unlawful erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, conversion, maintenance or use continues shall be deemed a separate offense.

State Law reference— Building construction standards, O.C.G.A. § 8-2-1 et seq.; injunctions, O.C.G.A. § 9-5-1 et seq.; extraordinary writs, O.C.G.A. § 9-6-1 et seq.; punishment for misdemeanors, O.C.G.A. § 17-10-3.

(13)

Conflict with other laws. Whenever the regulations made under authority of this act [this section] require a greater width or size of yards, courts, or other open spaces, or require a lower height of buildings or smaller number of stories, or require a greater percentage of lot to be left unoccupied, or impose other more restrictive standards than are required in or under any other statute, the regulations made under authority of this act [this section] shall govern. Whenever the provisions of any other statute require more restrictive standards than are required by the regulation made under authority of this act [this section], the provisions of such statute shall govern.

(14)

Subdivision regulation. The public health, safety, morals, and general welfare require the harmonious, orderly, and progressive development of land within the City of Milledgeville and the County of Baldwin. In furtherance of this purpose, regulation of the subdivision of land by the city commission and the county commission is authorized for the following purposes, among others:

(a)

To encourage the development of economically sound and stable communities;

(b)

To assure the provisions of required streets, utilities, and other facilities and services to new land developments;

(c)

To assure the adequate provision of safe and convenient traffic access and circulation, both vehicular and pedestrian, in new land developments;

(d)

To assure the provision of needed public open spaces and building sites in new land developments through the dedication or reservation of land for recreational, educational, and other public purposes; and

(e)

To assure, in general, the wise development of new areas, in harmony with the master plan of the community.

(15)

Planning commission as platting authority. From and after the time the planning commission shall have prepared and adopted a master plan or at least the major street portion of such master plan and shall have recommended to the city commission or the county commission regulations for the subdivision of land within the municipality or the unincorporated portion of the county, respectively, which regulation shall have been adopted by the city commission or the county commission, as provided in section (16) [subsection (16)] below, then no plat of a subdivision within the municipality or within the unincorporated portion of the county shall be filed or recorded in the office of the clerk of the superior court of Baldwin county until it shall have been submitted to and approved by the planning commission and such approval entered in writing on the plat by the secretary of the planning commission. The clerk of the superior court shall not file or record a plat of a subdivision which does not have the approval of the planning commission as required by this act [this section]. The filing or recording of a plat of a subdivision without the approval of the planning commission as required by this act [this section] is hereby declared a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, is punishable as provided by law.

State Law reference— Punishment for misdemeanors, O.C.G.A. § 17-10-3; Georgia Land Sales Act of 1982, O.C.G.A. § 44-3-1 et seq.

(16)

Regulation of subdivisions. In exercising the powers granted to it by this act [this section], the planning commission shall prepare and recommend to the city commission or the county commission for adoption regulations governing the subdivision of land within the municipality or unincorporated portion of the county respectively. Such regulations may provide for the harmonious development of the municipality and the county; for the coordination of streets within subdivisions with other existing or planned streets or official map streets; for the size of blocks and lots; for the dedication or reservation of land for streets, school sites, and recreation areas and of easements for utilities and other public services and facilities; and for a distribution of population and traffic which will tend to create conditions favorable to health, safety, convenience, prosperity or general welfare. Such regulations may include requirements as to the extent to which and the manner in which streets shall be graded, surfaced, and improved, and water, sewers, septic tanks, and other utility mains, piping, connections, or other facilities shall be installed as a condition precedent to the approval of the plat. Such regulations may provide that, in lieu of the completion of such work and installations previous to the final approval of a plat, the city commission or the county commission may accept a bond, in an amount and with surety and conditions satisfactory to it, providing for and securing to the municipality or county the actual construction and installation of such improvements and utilities within a period specified by the planning commission and expressed in the bond; and the municipality or county is hereby granted the power to enforce such bonds by all appropriate legal and equitable remedies. The city commission and the county commission are hereby given the power to adopt and to amend such land subdivision regulations after a public hearing thereon, at least fifteen (15) days' notice of the time and place of which shall have been published in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality or county.

(17)

Tentative plat approval. The planning commission is hereby given the authority to give tentative approval or disapproval to preliminary plats and to approve or disapprove final plats but in each case their action shall be taken within thirty (30) days after the submission thereof; otherwise, such plat shall be deemed to have been approved and a certificate to that effect shall be issued by the planning commission on demand; provided however, that the applicant for the planning commission's approval may waive this requirement and consent to the extension of such period. The ground of disapproval of any plat shall be stated upon the records of the planning commission. Any plat submitted to the planning commission shall contain the name and address of a person to whom notice of hearing may be sent; and no plat shall be acted upon by the planning commission without affording a hearing thereon, notice of the time and place of which shall be sent by registered or certified mail to said address not less than five (5) days before the date fixed therefor.

(18)

Effect of plat approval on status of dedications. The approval of a plat by the planning commission shall not be deemed to constitute or effect an acceptance by the municipality or the county or the public of the dedication of any street or other ground shown upon the plat.

(19)

Penalties for transferring lots in unapproved subdivisions. The owner or agent of the owner of any land to be subdivided within the municipality or county who transfers or sells or agrees to sell or negotiates to sell such land by reference to or exhibition of or by other use of a plat of subdivision of such land before such plat has been approved by the planning commission and recorded in the office of the clerk of the superior court of Baldwin County, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided by law; and the description by metes and bounds in the instrument of transfer or other document used in the process of selling or transfer shall not exempt the transaction from such penalties. The municipality or county, through its attorney or other official designated by the city commission or the county commission, may enjoin such transfer or sale or agreement by appropriate action.

State Law reference— Injunctions, O.C.G.A. § 9-5-1 et seq.; punishment for misdemeanors, O.C.G.A. § 17-10-3.

(20)

Acceptance of and improvements in unapproved streets. From and after the time when the platting jurisdiction of the planning commission shall have attached by virtue of the adoption by the planning commission of a major street plan and the adoption by the city commission or the county commission of a set of land subdivision regulations recommended to them by the planning commission, as provided in section (15) of this act [subsection (15)], the city commission or the county commission shall not accept, lay out, open, improve, grade, pave, or light any street or lay or authorize the laying of any water mains, sewers, connections, or other facilities or utilities in any street within the municipality or county unless such street shall have been accepted or opened as, or shall otherwise have received the legal status of a public street prior to the said attachment of the planning commission's subdivision jurisdiction, or unless such street corresponds in its location and lines with a street shown on a subdivision plat approved by the planning commission or on a street plat made and adopted by said planning commission, provided however, that the city commission or the county commission may locate and construct or may accept any other street if the ordinance or resolution or other measure for such approval be first submitted to the planning commission for its review and comment; such street shall have the status of an approved street as fully as though it had been originally shown on a subdivision plat approved by the planning commission or on a plat made and adopted by the planning commission.

(21)

Erection of buildings. From and after the time when the platting jurisdiction of the planning commission shall have attached by virtue of adoption by the planning commission of a major street plan and the adoption by the city commission or the county commission of a set of land subdivision regulations recommended to them by the planning commission, as provided in section (15) of this act [subsection (15)], no building permit shall be issued for and no building or other structure shall be erected on any lot within the municipality or county unless the street giving access to the lot upon which said building is proposed to be placed shall be accepted or opened as, or shall have otherwise received the legal status of a public street prior to that time, or unless such street corresponds in its location and lines with a street shown on a subdivision plat approved by said planning commission or on a street plat made and adopted by said planning commission or with a street located and accepted by the city commission or the county commission. Any building erected in violation of this section [this subsection] shall be deemed an unlawful structure, and the building inspector or municipal or county attorney or other official designated by the city commission or county commission may bring appropriate action to enjoin such erection or cause it to be vacated or removed.

(22)

Official map. The city commission by ordinance and the county commission by resolution may establish an official map of the municipality or the county, respectively, showing the location of the streets, public building sites, and public open spaces therefore existing and established by law as public streets, public building sites or public open spaces. Such official map may also show the location of the boundary lines of streets, public building sites or public open spaces on plats of subdivisions which have been approved by the planning commission. The official map may include the whole or any part or parts of the municipality or county. In the event the official map thus established does not include the whole of the municipality or county but only certain part or parts thereof, then the city commission or the county commission may add to the official map by placing thereon, from time to time, the boundary lines of streets, public building sites or public open spaces which at the time of the establishment of the official map existed and were established by law as public streets, public building sites or public open spaces, or which appear on a plat which has been approved by the planning commission. The city commission or the county commission shall certify the fact of the establishment of the official map to the clerk of the superior court of Baldwin County.

(23)

Platting of street, public building site or public open space lines by planning commission. From and after the time when the planning commission shall have prepared and adopted a master plan or at least the major street portion of such master plan, the planning commission shall have the power to make or cause to be made, from time to time, surveys for the exact location of the lines of new, extended, widened, or narrowed streets in the whole or in any portion of the municipality or county and to make and certify to the city commission or the county commission a plat or plats of the area thus surveyed on which are indicated the lines recommended by the planning commission as the mapped lines of future streets, street extensions, street widenings, or street narrowings.

From and after the time when the planning commission shall have prepared and adopted a master plan or at least the public building sites or public open spaces portion of such master plan, the planning commission shall have the power to make or cause to be made, from time to time, surveys of the exact location of the boundary lines of new, enlarged or diminished sites for public buildings or sites for parks, playgrounds, or other public open spaces in the whole or in any portion of the municipality or county and to make and certify to the city commission or the county commission a plat or plats of the areas thus surveyed on which are indicated the locations of the lines recommended by the planning commission, as the mapped boundary lines of future public building sites or public park, playground, or other public open space areas or of existing sites or areas that are to be extended or contracted.

The making or certifying of a plat by the planning commission shall not in and of itself constitute or be deemed to constitute the opening or establishment of any street or public building site or public park, playground or other public open space or the taking or acceptance of any land for such purposes.

(24)

Establishment of proposed boundary lines of streets, public sites or public open spaces. From and after the time the planning commission shall have made and certified to the city commission or the county commission a plat or plats on which are indicated the locations of the lines recommended by the planning commission as the mapped boundary lines of future streets, street extensions or street widenings, street narrowings, public building sites, public park, playground or other public open space areas or of existing sites or areas that are to be expanded or contracted, the city commission by ordinance or the county commission by resolution may make from time to time additions to or modifications of the official map by adding thereon the plats certified by the planning commission. Before taking such action, the city commission or the county commission shall hold a public hearing thereon, notice of the time and place of which shall be given not less than fifteen (15) days previous to the time fixed, thereof by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality or county, and, insofar as their addressees appear in the municipal or county directory or on municipal or county records or are otherwise known to the municipal or county clerk, by registered or certified mail to the record owners of the lands on or abutting which the proposed public street, public building site, or public open space lines are located.

(25)

Regulation of buildings and other structures in bed of mapped streets, public building sites or public open spaces. For the purpose of preserving the integrity of the official map, the city commission or county commission may provide by ordinance or resolution respectively, that no permit shall be issued for any building or structure or part thereof on any land located between the mapped lines of any street, public building site or public open spaces as shown on the official map. Any such ordinance or resolution shall provide that the zoning board of appeals, if the municipality or county has such a board or, it [if] not, a board of appeals created for the purpose in such ordinance or resolution, shall have the power, upon an appeal filed with it by the owner of any such land, to authorize the granting of a permit for a building or structure or part thereof within any such mapped lines in any case in which such board finds, upon the evidence and arguments presented to it upon such appeal:

(a)

That the property of the appellant of which such mapped street, public building site, or public open space forms a part will not yield a reasonable return to the owner unless such permit be granted; or

(b)

That, balancing the interests of the municipality or county in preserving the integrity of the official map and the interest of the owner in the use and benefits of his property, the granting of such permit is required by considerations of justice and equity.

Before taking any such action, the board of appeals shall hold a hearing thereon, at least fifteen (15) days' notice of the time and place of which shall be given to the appellant in his appeal petition. In the event that the board of appeals decides to authorize a building permit, it shall have the power to specify the exact location, ground area, height, materials of construction, and other details and conditions of extent and character, and also the duration of the building, structure, or part thereof to be permitted.

(26)

Definitions. For the purpose of this act [this section] the term "street" or "streets" means, relates to and includes streets, avenues, boulevards, roads, highways, expressways, lanes, alleys, and other ways; "subdivision" means all divisions of a tract or parcel of land into two (2) or more lots, building sites, or other divisions for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of sale, legacy, or building development; it includes all division of land involving a new street or a change in existing streets, and includes resubdivision and, where appropriate to the context, relates to the process of subdividing or to the land or area subdivided; provided however, that the following are not included within this definition:

(a)

The combination or recombination of portions of previously platted lots where the total number of lots is not increased and the resultant lots are equal to the standards of the municipality;

(b)

The division of land into parcels of five (5) acres or more where no new street is involved.

State Law reference— "Subdivision" defined, O.C.G.A. § 44-3-2.

(27)

Powers and authority granted to the city commission and county commission are cumulative. All powers and authority granted by this act [this section] to the city commission and the county commission shall be cumulative. Such powers and authority shall be in addition to all other powers and authority such commissions now have or may later have under any other laws.

(28)

Powers and authority granted to planning commission and boards of appeals are cumulative. All powers and authority granted by this act [this section] to the planning commission and boards of appeals shall be cumulative. Such powers and authority shall be in addition to all other powers and authority such planning commission and boards of appeals now have or may later have under other laws.

(1957 Ga. Laws, page 3275, §§ 1—28)

State Constitution reference— Home rule for counties and municipalities, art. IX, § II.

State law reference

Georgia Land Sales Act, O.C.G.A. § 44-3-1 et seq.