Clayton County is working with its residents and community stakeholders to update its zoning ordinance within Unincorporated Clayton County to support the implementation of the newly adopted Moving Clayton Forward 2039 Comprehensive Plan. Your feedback will help build a clear picture of our County’s future.

Establishing many ways for residents to engage in this planning process is helping to ensure that local knowledge is accessed and used in developing zoning and land development ordinance recommendations. It also maximizes the opportunities for the public to become involved in the overall process and encourages ownership of the recommendations. Here's a quick summary of the public engagement completed to date and what your neighbors had to say about the future of zoning in Clayton County:

• Many residents desire expanded commercial and residential options through high-quality mixed-use development with emphasis on amenities/quality of life for residents and bringing hotels, medical offices, and additional retail diversity.
• Meeting attendees seek to limit or reduce existing and future industrial uses wherever possible or buffering industrial uses away from existing residential developments with greenery and different site design.
• Some residents voiced concerns about the quality and volume of new townhome developments, and expressed frustration with certain development companies.
• Diagnostic review of existing code needs stronger alignment between process-focused and growth-related themes.
• Cautious messaging is required to adequately communicate how balance will be achieved between increased density and existing neighborhood character.
• Regional coordination and storytelling are essential to ensure development efforts are leveraged across partners and creating live-work environments that support workforce development and attract regional investment.
• District-specific land use conflicts must be addressed particularly industrial encroachment into residential areas (e.g., District 1 and I-675 corridor), truck routing through neighborhoods, and the need for step-down zoning between heavy/light industrial and residential uses.
• General support exists for new housing types, including Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), tiny homes, mixed-income, market-rate housing, condos, and apartments, as part of a broader strategy to address housing demand.
• ADUs are viewed favorably as a tool for existing homeowners to construct and rent to make extra income.

Please be sure to check this engagement site often to see how you can stay involved in the process!

A zoning rewrite includes both practical and implementable recommendations that promote safe communities, sustained economic development, diverse housing, transportation options, recreation and wellness, and other development and redevelopment efforts. This project will analyze the county’s existing zoning and land development ordinances and review adopted plans to create viable recommendations for revising the existing ordinances, last updated in 2008, to better align with the county’s current priorities.

This rewrite seeks to modernize the zoning ordinance to meet contemporary and future land development needs and desires (as outlined in the Comprehensive Plan) while fostering better conditions for residents through public health, safety, and welfare considerations. Expected outcomes from this modernization process include (but are not limited to):

• Streamlined procedures
• Increased use of illustrations
• Simplified language for regulations
• Implementation flexibility

Outreach efforts will be used to educate Clayton County residents and stakeholders on opportunities to participate in the process and discuss existing issues with the zoning ordinance, community perceptions, needs, and priorities that can be considered during this project. Outreach techniques are designed to be representative of the community, encourage broad participation, and target traditionally underserved communities, as well as generate meaningful feedback and build relationships that will support action once the planning effort is completed.