Local brief
70% preservation doesn't mean 70% of a village stays open
The adopted growth plan relies on land saved elsewhere through development-rights transfers. It schedules a 2027–28 review of hamlet and village location and expansion.
Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia, puts a zoning update on the 2027 work list in its adopted comprehensive plan. The document also spells out an important distinction behind its preservation model: a village can reach a 70% preservation ratio without keeping 70% of its own site as open space.[1][2]
Hamlets and villages take different routes. The plan describes hamlets protecting at least 65% of their land as open space, with another 5% used as civic space. For villages, it describes 10% permanently protected open space and 5% civic space on-site. Development rights transferred from other land in the city supply the additional preservation needed to reach a 70-to-30 preservation-to-development ratio, or better.[2]
That trade-off helps explain the focus on South Fulton Parkway. The plan directs its Preferred Village Area toward locations near the corridor, saying concentrated growth there can reduce the city's infrastructure and road-maintenance burden. But the designation is not a promise that the whole area—or any particular part of it—will become a village.[2]
There is a catch: the plan itself says the Transfer of Development Rights program is underused and “not currently functioning as intended.” The program is supposed to compensate rural landowners for permanent protection while moving development rights into growth areas. To help get it moving, the work program lists city-led development-rights purchases for 2027–28. The estimated cost remains “TBD,” with the General Fund and grants identified as funding sources.[2]
The same 2027–28 work list calls for reviewing hamlet and village location and expansion—including siting, contiguity, buffers and compatibility with neighboring rural properties. It also calls for exploring larger, better-connected conservation areas. Those are scheduled planning tasks, not completed changes to development regulations.[2]
Draft action minutes record unanimous approval of Item 26-045 with changes and recommendations. For anyone following a future development proposal, the key limit remains: the plan's map and character areas guide decisions, but they are not zoning regulations and do not override the city's Unified Development Code.[1][2]
Sources
2 official sources cited in this report. The bracketed numbers in the text link here.
Reporting history
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