Area: The total square footage within the boundaries of a lot.Width: Length of the primary street lot lines bounding a lot.Units per lot: The maximum number of dwelling units allowed on a lot. There are three types of dwelling units: primary units, accessory units, and guest units.Dwelling unit: A building or portion of a building providing complete and permanent living facilities, including cooking and bathing facilities.Primary unit: A dwelling unit that is the primary use of the building or portion of the building and is not considered an accessory unit or guest unit. Where allowed by the Form and Frontage district, more than one primary unit may occur on a lot.Accessory unit: A dwelling unit that is accessory to the primary unit meeting the following standards: (1) Must be located on the same lot as the primary unit; (2) Must not exceed maximum number of accessory units per lot determined by the district; (3) Maximum floor area of 850 sf; (4) Floor area of the accessory unit must count toward the maximum allowable FAR of the district; and (5) May be attached or detached from the primary unit.Guest unit: A dwelling unit that is accessory to the primary unit meeting the following standards: (1) Must be located on the same lot as the primary unit; (2) Must not exceed more than 1 guest unit per lot; (3) The total floor area of all accessory buildings, including guest units, is limited to 30% of the floor area of the primary unit; (4) Floor area of the guest unit must count toward the maximum allowable FAR of the district; and (5) May be attached or detached from the primary unit.Lot Coverage: The percentage of lot area covered by buildings, structures, or impervious surfaces such as plazas, driveways, and parking lots.Building Coverage: The percentage of lot area covered by buildings or structures.Outdoor Amenity Space: An area of a lot designated to be used for active or passive recreation, calculated as a percentage of total lot area. There are two types of outdoor amenity space: Common Outdoor Amenity Space and Pedestrian Outdoor Amenity Space.Common Outdoor Amenity Space: A type of Outdoor Amenity Space generally reserved for use by building occupants and may not be accessible to the public. Examples include roof decks, pool amenity areas, and courtyards.Pedestrian Outdoor Amenity Space: A type of Outdoor Amenity Space that is publicly accessible and located in close proximity to the public sidewalk. Examples include patios and plazas.Landscape Zone: The area between the public right-of-way and the Pedestrian Walk Zone which usually includes landscaping, street furniture, and utilities.Pedestrian Walk Zone: The area between the Landscape Zone and the street lot line which primarily consists of a sidewalk that is reserved for pedestrian travel.Front Yard Landscaping: The area between any building, parking garage, or parking lot and the Pedestrian Walk Zone that must be landscaped.Building Setbacks: The area on a lot not intended for buildings and structures. Includes primary street setbacks, side street setbacks, side setbacks, rear setbacks, and alley setbacks.Transition: Additional setback and landscape buffer requirements and building height restrictions that apply when higher intensity districts abut certain lower intensity districts.Build-to width: The total building width that occupies the build-to zone relative to the site width at the street lot line.Parking Location: Where on-site parking is or is not allowed between the building and the street.Fences and Walls: Vertical structures separating the public realm from private property.Floor Area Ratio: The ratio of the total floor area of all buildings on a lot to the total area of the lot.FAR: The ratio of the total floor area of all buildings on a lot to the total area of the lot.GLA: Gross land area, which includes the property plus one-half of adjacent rights-of-way.NLA: Net lot area, which is the area of the lot.Building Height: The vertical dimension of a building or structure measured in feet and stories.Side Wall Height: The vertical dimension of the wall of a building or structure, supporting the roof structure.Building Width: The horizontal width of a building on a lot, parallel to the street lot line.Active Depth: The horizontal depth of a building that must contain active uses for a specific number of stories.Ground Story Height: The floor-to-floor height of the ground story of a building.Ground Story Elevation: The height of the finished floor above or below existing grade of the ground story of a building.Windows: The amount of transparent area required as a proportion of the surface area of the ground story or upper story of a building.Ground Story: The lowest story, or first floor, of a building.Upper Story: Any story of a building located above the ground story.Blank Wall Width: The distance between widths of ground story facade and foundation wall without window or door openings.Entry Spacing: A maximum distance between street-facing doors providing access from the public realm to the interior of a building.Entry Feature: Improved design requirements applied to entrances along the public realm.Porch: A wide, raised platform projecting in front of a building entrance, that is entirely covered but not enclosed.Raised Entry: A raised platform accessed from an exterior staircase, providing covered access to a building entry.Forecourt: An entry area at a similar grade to the sidewalk that is enclosed with a short wall, fence, or hedge.Recessed Entry: A building entry that is stepped back from the majority of the rest of the same building elevation.Covered Entry: An entry area at a similar grade to the sidewalk that incorporates a shading or rain-screening element above the building entry.: Primary street: A public or private right-of-way abutting a lot that is generally the highest classification, establishes the orientation of the block, abuts the longest face of the block, or is parallel to an alley within the block. For lots abutting multiple streets, more than one street may be designated as a primary street.Side street: For lots abutting multiple streets, a public or private right-of-way that is secondary to the primary street. Alley: A public or private right-of-way used primarily for service to the back or side for properties that front along a primary street.Block: A tract of land bounded by streets or a combination of streets, public parks, railroad rights-of-way, centerlines of waterways, or corporate boundary lines of the City.Block face: All lots abutting both sides of a street between two intersecting streets.Primary Street Lot Line: Any lot line that abuts a primary street right-of-way.Side Street Lot Line: Any lot line that abuts a side street right-of-way. Any street lot line not determined to be a primary street lot line is considered a side street lot line.Side Lot Line: Any lot line not determined to be a primary street, side street, rear, or alley lot line.Rear Lot line: Any lot line that does not abut a street or alley right-of-way and is opposite and most distant from a primary street lot line.Alley Lot Line: Any lot line separating a site from an alley right-of-way. Even when a lot line qualifies as a rear lot line or side lot line, all lot lines that abut an alley right-of-way are considered an alley lot line.Primary building: The building occupied or designated for the primary use.Accessory building: A building or structure subordinate to the primary building on a lot and used for purposes incidental to the primary building located on the same lot.Street-facing building facades: The portion of a building façade with no permanent structure located between the building façade and the primary or side street lot line.Build-to Zone: The area on the site between the minimum and maximum building setbacks, for the full width of the site.Average existing grade: Grade as established prior to any site modification. Existing grade does not include fill material or retained soils recently established without a grading permit. Excludes entrances to basements, entrances to parking garages, and window wells.Walking distance: Distance measured as the most direct path of travel for a pedestrian.
Atlanta's new Zoning Ordinance for the 21st century
Discussion Draft Form & Frontage Districts
Review and comment on the draft Form & Frontage Districts
The Discussion Draft Form & Frontage Districts focus on the physical shape of new development. They include standards related to bulk (floor area ratio), massing, height, setbacks, lot coverage, building orientation, and more. The draft include existing standards from over 200 zoning districts, plus new standards that emerged from ongoing public input.
Please share any thoughts you have about the Discussion Form & Frontage Districts with us. Your comments will be used to shape the future drafts of ATL Zoning 2.0.
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