Dawsonville’s City Council voted Nov. 3 to enact a 30-day emergency moratorium on new zoning map amendments and similar development applications while staff prepares a rewrite of the city’s zoning ordinance and development regulations.

City Attorney Kevin Tallent told the council the moratorium is intended to pause new rezonings and map changes that would otherwise be processed under an ordinance that the council has decided to replace. He said the moratorium would last no more than 30 days, would not apply to applications already filed and in process, would not prevent applicants from seeking variances where the code allows them, and would allow annexations to proceed under the city’s existing annexation rules.

“The way it is drafted, it also does not affect any zoning application that is currently in process,” Kevin Tallent said during the presentation. He recommended the short pause to avoid approving projects under rules the council plans to change.

Councilmember Mark French moved to adopt the moratorium; Councilmember Eells seconded. Mayor John Walden and multiple council members said they preferred a short, clear pause so staff and residents can help shape the new ordinance rather than approve projects under ‘‘rules that are on their way out.’’

The motion passed; the meeting record shows the vote as three in favor and one opposed. The moratorium takes effect immediately and is scheduled to last up to 30 days while staff continues the zoning and code revision work and schedules public input on proposed changes.

Council members and staff emphasized that any application that had already been accepted for review prior to the moratorium’s adoption will proceed under the rules in place when it was filed.