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Commission approves multiple UDC updates, adds requirement for a nut-bearing tree on buildable lots
Summary
Walton County planners voted to amend several Unified Development Code provisions — fee schedule, tree-species guidance, DRRI thresholds and bond terms — and added a requirement that each buildable residential lot include a nut-bearing tree; amendments (except one item held for separate discussion) will go to the Board of Commissioners.
At its May 7 meeting the Walton County Planning Commission approved a suite of proposed updates to the county Unified Development Code (UDC) and added a stipulation that each buildable residential lot include one nut-bearing tree.
Staff (referred to as Christie) presented a set of amendments including corrections to verbiage in the utilities article, changes to the overlay district language, updates to thresholds for developments of regional impact (adding thresholds such as 10,000 trips/day or a truck-stop threshold), deletion of specimen-tree references in the tree appendix and an expanded species guidance list covering soil and drought tolerance. The package also revised fees: a residential minimum permit fee of $75, a flat $75 fee for accessory buildings under 500 ft², a construction-trailer permit at $0.25/ft², and a $100 per-utility-permit fee.
Commissioners voted to approve the amendments with one item (amendment four, the DRRI threshold changes) held for separate handling; during the meeting the commission moved to add a requirement that every buildable residential lot include at least one nut-bearing tree as part of the UDC changes and voted to include that requirement. The commission set performance/maintenance bond language to 18 months (replacing a prior 12-month reference) and clarified public-notice fees to be included in the schedule.
Planning staff said the tree-species chart will provide guidance for plantings in parking lots, screening and natural areas and will note whether species are native to Georgia. Commissioners emphasized preserving existing timber where possible and adding landscape standards at new entries.
The UDC amendments (with the nut-bearing-tree requirement and fee changes) were approved by the planning commission and will be forwarded to the Board of Commissioners for final adoption; the transcript records the commission’s vote to send most changes forward and to discuss one amendment separately.
