Forsyth County, GA Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

Forsyth County's density bonus written into the Unified Development Code sits inside the Mixed-Use Center District (MCD) article, chapter 20B. 4 as the path to build denser. That section frames the bonus as a redevelopment incentive: a developer who cleans up deteriorated property can add up to two residential units per acre above the six-unit base, for a potential maximum of eight units per acre in that district. Qualifying is not automatic. 4(a) requires the applicant to identify every deteriorated area on the site and have staff approve that identification, and the developer must redevelop 100 percent of the acreage found to be deteriorated, not just part of it, to unlock the incentive.

The code defines deteriorated conditions narrowly: uninhabitable, unsafe, or abandoned structures; structures declining in value from observable neglect; EPA-flagged environmental contamination needing remedial investigation; conditions attracting rodents, mosquitoes, or disease-transmitting animals; or conditions attracting or propagating criminal activity. To document a site qualifies, the applicant must submit an inspection report with written and photo evidence, a scaled map showing exactly where the deteriorated conditions and affected acreage sit, and a scaled redevelopment plan prepared by a licensed architect, engineer, surveyor, landscape architect, or land planner.

This is a narrower tool than a citywide density bonus: it applies only within MCD zoning, which itself must be at least 30 acres and is created through rezoning, not by right. 31, a distinct program from the MCD redevelopment incentive described here.