Gordon County, GA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

Section 4.01.01(F) of the Unified Land Development Code expresses impervious surface standards as the maximum percent of land coverage for each zoning district in unincorporated Gordon County. The ratio is calculated by dividing the total of all impervious surfaces on the lot by the lot area, and the code counts all buildings, structures, paving, and water bodies as impervious. Table 4.01.01(N) then assigns the limits: 15 percent in RC-1 Rural Conservation, 25 percent in A-1 Agricultural and RA-1 Residential Agricultural, and 50 percent in R-1, R-2, R-3, and R-6. R-5 multi-family allows 70 percent. The office and commercial districts O-I, C-C, and C-G allow 75 percent, and C-H Highway Commercial, I-1 Light Industrial, and I-2 Heavy Industrial allow 85 percent.

The ratio works alongside other rules that shrink usable coverage. Section 4.00.02 directs that development avoid unnecessary impervious surface cover. Section 5.02.01 requires accessory structures in residential districts to be counted in all impervious surface ratio and stormwater management calculations, so a detached garage or workshop uses up part of the same allowance as the house and driveway. In the Mixed Use district, Table 4.06.02(B) leaves maximum impervious surface to the conditions of zoning.

Inside a water supply watershed, Section 3.02.06(B) adds a stream-based limit. No impervious surface can be built within 150 feet on both sides of a perennial stream within seven miles of a water supply intake, or within 75 feet beyond that radius, measured from the stream banks. Vegetative buffers of 50 feet and 25 feet apply on the same streams. Site plans in the watershed district must show the location, dimensions, and area of all existing and proposed impervious surfaces.

The lot-coverage figures sit in the same table as minimum lot area and width, so a lot that fits the area standard can still fall short on coverage once driveways, sheds, and patios are added.