GENERAL INFORMATION

Please visit the ✅ Department Checklists page here for County Wide and Southeast Design Standards. Contact staff to verify applicability.

Land-Disturbing Activity: Any grading, scraping, excavating, or filling of land; clearing of vegetation; and any construction, rebuilding, or alteration of a structure. Land-disturbing activity shall not include activities such as ordinary maintenance and landscaping operations, individual home gardens, yard and grounds upkeep, repairs, additions or minor modifications to a single family dwelling, and the cutting of firewood for personal use.

Vertical construction of projects require three (3) permits before construction can commence:

• A land/site development permit (for conformance with zoning codes)
• Commercial building plan review - with elevations (for conformance with building codes)
• The issuance of a building permit for each building

The site development permit and the building plan review may be submitted for review concurrently. Keep in mind a site development will need to be approved prior to your commercial building plans, and both approvals are required before a building permit may be issued. All site development permits require the submittal and approval of a post-construction ‘as-built’ survey.

Types of Land Disturbance Permits

• Clearing & Grubbing and/or Grading (CG)| Fee: $250
• Road Construction (RC) | Fee: $25/per lot + $250
• Sanitary Sewer (SW) | Fee: $30/per disturbed acres or min $250
• Site Development (SD) | Fee: $30/per disturbed acres or min $250

Coal Mountain Town Center Overlay Design Review Architect Fees (or third party architectural review, as may be required)

• Each occupiable structure below 40,000 square feet | Fee:  $2,000
• Each occupiable structure 40,000 square feet for greater | Fee:  $2,500

Recordable Documents

• Final Plats (FP) | Fee: 1st submittal no fee / revision $250
• As-Builts (AS) | Fee: none
• Minor Plats (MP) | Fee: $5 for review, $10 per page for recording

Any land disturbance requires a plan review prior to receiving a permit.

Land/Site Development Permits

A land development permit (LDP/SD) is different from building permits regulated under the International Code Council (ICC). Land development permits/site development includes construction/land disturbance permits, e.g. grading, road construction, sewer & water line development, site development, and re-development. All land/site development permits are reviewed by multiple county departments. After the plans are reviewed by all necessary departments, comments are provided to the plan designer. To obtain approval for a land development permit, an applicant must address the reviewer’s comments then obtain final approval (stamp on plans) from each reviewing department. The routing requirements vary depending on which type of land development permit. Please consult with staff regarding which reviewing departments you will receive comments and obtain final approval from.

Once all required departments have stamped and approved the plan and all conditions of plan approval are met, the plan will be released back for printing. For LDPs, 5 sets of the stamped approved plan must be delivered along with a copy of the Notice of Intent filed with the Georgia EPD, as well as the county's portion of the NPDES fee. Final plats require 8 sets of the full-size stamped, approved and recorded plat.

In order to facilitate easier plan processing, it is highly recommended that developers review all of the ✅ Department Checklists, as these are the checklists that each reviewing department will use to review your submittal. It is also recommended that a pre-submittal meeting be held with staff to review any specifics of the site and project, discuss the review process and answer any questions. Contact Nealee Hubbard at nkhubbard@forsythco.com to request the meeting.

As-Built Plan Submission & Review

An as-built plan is a civil drawing depicting completed site development and building construction or as-built profile of utilities as it exists in the field. As-built plans and sewer profiles must be prepared by a licensed land surveyor and may involve a licensed engineer. They must show all infrastructure improvements and building footprints as they were actually constructed in the field. After all departments have approved the plan, it is recorded with the clerk of court.

As-builts are reviewed by several departments, including Planning and Community Development, Engineering, Water & Sewer, Tax Assessor and GIS. Many of these departments conduct field inspections and some may require additional reports, such as those for backflow prevention and hydrology. Field inspectors from several departments visit the site and also provide comments to the applicant. For more information on as-built requirements, please visit the ✅ Department Checklists page here.

Forsyth County requires the submission, review and approval of an as-built plan prior to issuance of the Certification of Occupancy or Certificate of Completion for all commercial, industrial, condominium, and residential amenities projects.

Minor Plat Submission & Review

A minor plat is a drawing depicting a tract of land.  Minor plats must be drawn by a licensed land surveyor and may involve a licensed engineer. The plat must show all conditions of the site as it exists in the field.  After all departments have approved the plat, it is recorded with the Clerk of Court.

Reasons to submit a minor plat include: to establish a lot of record, to subdivide property, to combine property, to adjust property lines, and to record an access easement location.

Minor plats are reviewed by several departments, including Planning and Community Development, Engineering, Water & Sewer, Cumming Utilities, and Environmental Health.  Each of the reviewers may provide comments to the applicant for correction by the surveyor before the plat can be approved. For more information on minor plat requirements, please visit the ✅ Department Checklists page.

The minor plat submittal deadline is Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. Cases submitted after 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday will not be processed until the following week. All reviewing departments will upload their comments by Thursday in the week following the submittal deadline. This is a six-business day review timeline.

Resubmittals are accepted daily, and the reviewers have six business days to review.

📄 Minor Plat Application

📄 Minor Plat Owner Authorization

Please click here to submit your online application.