Clayton County, GA Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

Sec. 35 creates the MX Mixed Use District to recreate traditional downtowns, requiring a mixture of non-residential uses in any MX rezoning (Sec. 0) and full Site Development Plan approval before anything is built (Sec. 0). Development standards under Sec. 0 set a build-to line of 0 feet at the front, rising to 15 feet only where outdoor dining, public art or fountains are provided, minimum building height of a full two stories, and maximum height of 64 feet on a collector or local street versus 120 feet on an arterial.

Maximum lot coverage is 80 percent, and density tops out at 12 dwelling units per acre on a collector street, rising to 72 units per acre on an arterial within a mixed-use structure. Sec. 0 requires buildings to orient toward the thoroughfare of greatest traffic intensity with pedestrian entrances directly adjacent to the public sidewalk. Sec. 0's Architectural Standards drive the downtown look: primary facades must be detailed as storefronts glazed with clear glass covering at least 60 percent of the facade length up to a minimum height of eight feet, facades longer than 20 feet need intervening fenestration or entryway detailing, and exterior materials visible from any thoroughfare are limited to brick, glass, wood, hard-coat stucco, stone or cement-based siding, with metal capped at 30 percent of any facade.

The Streetscape/Pedestrian Scale provisions in Sec. 0(C) mandate a 14-foot-wide streetscape on both sides of any street with ground-floor retail or office uses, split between a 4-foot curb zone for street trees and lighting and a 10-foot sidewalk, with concrete sidewalks accented by textured pavers or colored concrete. Parking lots may not sit between a commercial building's front facade and the street, and one canopy tree is required for every four parking spaces. Multi-story row houses or brownstone-style buildings may put residential on the ground floor, but no other ground-floor residential is allowed in a mixed-use building, and non-residential uses must be built before or alongside residential under Development Timing.