Three acres or less? Agritourism needs Council’s signoff, staff say

Farms of three acres or less have a route to agritourism in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia—but City Council must sign off before staff can approve an administrative permit, according to Community Development Director Mike Morton.⁠[1][2]

Morton described the Council-added exception at the October 15 Planning Commission meeting, according to draft minutes: “on farms three acres or smaller, agritourism is not allowed, unless approved by city council.” He explained that Council approval would be a required condition for staff to approve the administrative permit—not an automatic permit.⁠[1]

That fills a gap in our earlier account of the agritourism vote, which reported the commission’s recommended exclusion for properties smaller than three acres and uncertainty about exactly-three-acre farms. Morton's explanation puts both groups on the Council-approval path.⁠[1][3]

Council approved the regulation amendment, Item 26-061, unanimously on October 6 with changes and Planning Commission recommendations, draft Council minutes show. The separately listed definition amendment, Item 26-060, failed for lack of a motion.⁠[4]

The commission's recommendation also called for farm-size-based visitor limits in the RL district and documentation of active agricultural production. The records reviewed do not reproduce the final ordinance or establish its effective date; the small-farm permitting route described here is Morton's explanation of how staff would administer the amendment.⁠[1][3][4]