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

The Stonecrest Area Overlay District covers the tiered mixed-use zones the city inherited from DeKalb County at incorporation, including the Transitional Mixed-Use Zone (Tier IV), the Cluster Village Mixed-Use Zone (Tier V) and the Viewshed Zone (Tier VI) that ring the Mall at Stonecrest and the Arabia Mountain area. Sec. 3.5.18 makes the Stonecrest Overlay District Design Guidelines, dated May 2008, binding on every use and structure in the district and puts the planning director in charge of keeping the guidelines on file for public inspection and amending them as needed.

The guidelines set the architectural design controls, landscaping, detail drawings, signage, fencing, lighting, street and site furniture and grading criteria the director applies when deciding whether a proposed design fits the overlay. Sec. 3.5.19 backs this up procedurally: before any land disturbance, building or sign permit is issued in the district, the applicant must first submit a conceptual plan package to the director, pay a council-set fee, and receive a certificate of compliance signed by the director or a designee. The director has 30 days from a complete application to decide, and if the plans do not comply, the director must notify the applicant in writing of exactly how they fall short.

Sec. 3.5.20 spells out what the conceptual plan package must contain, down to a site location map, floodplain and wetlands delineation, building heights and setbacks, and standard details for signs, sidewalks, streetlights, fencing and street furniture demonstrating compliance with the design guidelines. Minor work is not swept in: permits for repairs, interior alterations, or tenant buildout that do not change a building's exterior appearance or footprint are exempt from the overlay's design requirements. Any appeal of the director's compliance decision goes to the zoning board of appeals under Sec. 7.5.2.