Dalton City Council approves new zoning type
Jan. 11—The Dalton City Council voted 4-0 to create a new type of zoning called urban planned unit development (UPUD) as part of its unified zoning ordinance with Whitfield County and Varnell.
"This is similar to our existing planned unit development," said Ethan Calhoun, a planner with the Northwest Georgia Regional Commissioner, who handles staff work for the county and the cities of Dalton and Varnell with zoning.
"A planned unit development is an attempt to create a little flexibility with site design, mixing different types of uses in a development, to have different types of housing, perhaps even commercial, if certain parameters are met," said Calhoun.
The zoning ordinance currently allows PUDs of at least 15 acres. The proposed amendment has no minimum size but has a maximum size of eight acres.
Before a PUD can be created the plan would have to create a detailed site plan to be reviewed by planning staff, the planning commission would have to vote on whether to recommend it and the county commissioners or city council would have to approve it. The site plan cannot be changed in the future without the approval of commissioners or city council members.
Calhoun said the zoning is a tool for development, particularly infill development of vacant or underutilized land "where development can be challenging."
The UPUD zoning applies not only to the city of Dalton but to the entire urbanized area, which includes some areas surrounding the city.
The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners also approved this change to the unified zoning ordinance at its Monday meeting.
City officials and the Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority are looking at rezoning 3.25 acres at 900 St. Hamilton St. to UPUD from transitional commercial to create workforce housing.
That property, basically an entire city block, was donated to the city by Mohawk Industries in 2011 and was the site of a chenille plant. The city had the building demolished shortly after accepting the property.
The City Council members also voted 4-0 to:
—Approve the sale by Dalton Utilities of 16.61 acres under a 240kV transmission line in Gilmer County to Pinnacle Development for $24,000.
—Designate OZK bank as the depository of public funds of the city.
—Renew the equitable sharing agreement with the federal Justice Department and Treasury Department that allows the city police department to take part in the federal asset forfeiture program, which provides the department a portion of any assets seized by federal law enforcement in cases in which the department participates.
—Approve a request by Carlos Daniel Miranda to rezone from neighborhood commercial to medium-density, single-family residential 0.43 acres at 1123 Trammell St. in Dalton to bring an existing single-family house into conformity with zoning.
—Reappoint Dalton Municipal Court Judge Rob Cowan, Solicitor Susan Beck and Public Defender Giles Jones to one-year terms. Cowan will be paid $5,300 a month; Beck $3,750 a month; and Jones $150 an hour.
