Henry County adopted a year-long moratorium earlier this month. Since then, there has been a lot of questions about it. Here are some quick notes about the multifamily moratorium.
Multifamily Moratorium Quick Notes
- The moratorium applies to new applications for apartments, townhomes or duplexes in unincorporated areas only. Any application submitted prior to the moratorium can continue through the rezoning process. Applications to rezone property for any other land use (single-family subdivision, commercial, industrial, etc.) can proceed unaffected.
- If a previously submitted rezoning application receives zoning approval, but contains multifamily housing, then the applicant must wait until the moratorium expires to apply for building permits.
- The moratorium does not affect any project already under construction or applied for building permits. They can continue as is.
- The moratorium does not affect any property within city limits. Each city is a separate entity from unincorporated Henry County.
- Land owners adjacent to city limits can petition for annexation to circumvent the moratorium.
Since 2019, developers have proposed over thirty new apartment complexes within Henry County. About half of these projects have been in unincorporated areas. The purpose of the moratorium is to give planning staff an opportunity to consider revisions to the multifamily zoning code.
Moratoriums are not intended to stop all construction. Rather, they are a planning tool to pause new applications for a few months so staff can consider code updates. The county will begin accepting applications again for multifamily housing when the moratorium ends, ideally with an updated zoning code and new building requirements in place.
Featured image shows garden-style apartments. Stock photo.
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