The first step for any commercial or industrial development is to determine whether the property is properly zoned. The zoning classification can be accessed through the Bulloch County Tax Assessor’s website.
Search by Owner Name, Parcel Number, Location Address or Map
Click “Zoning” in box on the left side of the screen
Zoning of property will appear on map.
What are the zoning districts in unincorporated Bulloch County?
HC – Highway Commercial
HC zoning districts are intended to establish and preserve business areas that are motor vehicle oriented, rather than pedestrian oriented. HC districts provide areas that are convenient and attractive for retail activities, business transactions, and services to the public designed primarily to meet the day-to-day shopping and services needs not only of residents of the county, but of surrounding communities as well. Off-street parking and minimum yards are required. Properties in this district must be located on a major arterial, secondary arterial, or collector roadways.
GC – General Commercial
GC zoning districts are intended to provide adequate space for various types of general commercial business uses, including the retailing of major goods and services of larger scale than allowed in NC districts and other types of more intensive commercial activities involving non-industrial use of chemicals, outdoor displays, sales and storage and establishments that rely on highway oriented passerby traffic.
NC – Neighborhood Commercial
NC zoning districts are intended to establish and preserve small business areas of a limited nature that serve primarily the residential neighborhood in which they are located. Development standards for NC districts are designed to promote compatibility with the surrounding residential neighborhood. In order to promote such business development so far as is possible and appropriate in each area, uses are prohibited which would create hazards, offensive or loud noises, vibrations, smoke, glare, heavy truck traffic, or late hours of operation. The intent of this district is also to encourage the concentration of local business areas in locations proposed in the comprehensive plan to the mutual advantage of both consumers and merchants and thereby promote the best use of land at certain strategic locations.
LI – Light Industrial
LI zoning districts are intended to establish and preserve physically and aesthetically desirable areas in which clean, low-intensity manufacturing activities may locate and be protected from the intrusion of incompatible land uses. By having such areas available, both new and existing industries may operate and undertake expansion of facilities with the least possible adverse effect on other types of activities which might be incompatible with manufacturing. The elimination of non-manufacturing activities from LI districts benefits manufacturing activities by removing some possible obstacles to their smooth operation and expansion. This district is intended for firms that assemble or fabricate manufactured products that are ready for retail sale. Processing of certain types of agricultural products is allowed in this district. Firms that utilize substantial quantities of water in manufacturing are not permitted in this district.
HI – Heavy Industrial
HI zoning districts are intended to establish and preserve physically and aesthetically desirable areas in which clean, higher intensity manufacturing activities may locate and be protected from the intrusion of incompatible land uses. By having such areas available, both new and existing industries may operate and undertake expansion of facilities with the least possible adverse effect on other types of activities which might be incompatible with manufacturing. The elimination of non-manufacturing activities from HI district benefits manufacturing activities by removing some possible obstacles to their smooth operation and expansion.
AG-5 Agricultural and Residential
The Agricultural districts are established as districts in which the principal use of land is for farming, dairying, forestry operations and other agricultural activities. For the agricultural districts, in promoting the general purposes of these regulations, the specific intent of this article is to protect land needed and used for agricultural pursuits from encroachment by untimely and unplanned residential, commercial, or industrial development, and to allow the continuation of existing agricultural pursuits in areas where, in accordance with the recommendations of the comprehensive plan, future agricultural, commercial, industrial, or residential development is anticipated, but where the present application of zoning controls for future more intensive land uses would be unreasonable and premature.
R-80 Single Family Residential (minimum lot size – 80,000 square feet)
R-80 zoning districts are intended to establish and preserve quiet, relatively low-density neighborhoods of single-family residences as desired by large number of people. These districts are free from uses which are incompatible with single-family homes.
R-40 Single Family Residential (minimum lot size – 40,000 square feet)
R-40 zoning districts are intended to establish and preserve quiet, relatively low-density neighborhoods of single-family residences as desired by large number of people. These districts are free from uses which are incompatible with single-family homes.
R-25 Single Family Residential (minimum lot size – 25,000 square feet)
R-25 zoning districts are intended to establish and preserve quiet, relatively low-density neighborhoods of single-family residences as desired by large number of people. These districts are free from uses which are incompatible with single-family homes.
R-15 Single Family Residential (minimum lot size – 15,000 square feet)
R-15 zoning districts are intended to establish and preserve quiet, relatively low-density neighborhoods of single-family residences as desired by large number of people. These districts are free from uses which are incompatible with single-family homes.
R-2 Two Family Residential (minimum lot size – 15,000 square feet)
R-2 zoning districts are intended to establish and preserve quiet, relatively low-to-medium density neighborhoods of single-family and/or two-family residences. These districts are free from other uses which are incompatible with single-family homes.
R-3 Multiple Family Residential (minimum lot size – 15,000 square feet)
R-3 zoning districts are intended to: 1) encourage the development of land as planned neighborhoods or communities, 2) preserve the natural amenities of the land by encouraging scenic and functional open areas within residential areas, 3) provide for efficient use of land resulting in smaller networks of utilities and streets as well as lower development and housing costs, and 4) provide an environment of stable character which is compatible with surrounding residential areas.
MHP – Manufactured Home Park
Encourage the development of land as planned manufactured home communities and to provide efficient networks of utilities to service these communities.
PUD – Planned Unit Developments
A Planned Unit Development (PUD) is a type of land use planning option that is intended to provide a more flexible approach to permitting unified developments on a larger scale and to encourage the best possible site plans and building arrangements. It is the purpose of the PUD district to encourage the development of compatible land uses within the framework of a master development plan for residential and nonresidential land uses within an environmentally compatible setting. In addition to the natural environment, such developments take into consideration different architectural styles, relative scales of various structures, the network efficiency of streets and utilities, and the larger community setting, and the goals and objectives of the Bulloch County Comprehensive Plan.
CP – Conservation Preservation
It is the intent of this section that the CP district be established and maintained to preserve and/or control development within certain land, marsh, and/or water areas of the county which: (1) provide needed open space for the health and general welfare of the county’s inhabitants; (2) are utilized for outdoor recreation purposes; (3) possess great natural beauty or are of historical significance; (4) are subject to periodic flooding. The regulations which apply within this district are designed to reserve such areas for the purposes outlined herein and to discourage any encroachment by residential, commercial, industrial, or other uses capable of adversely affecting relatively undeveloped character of the district
