Hello, everyone,
Thank you for the feedback. I have been trying to follow them and was hoping to provide some more positive updates.
@Paul H., I took your advice and contacted the local Planning office, calling them twice a week since your post. I haven't been successful with reaching anyone and having a meaningful conversation. I have sent emails with no responses. At least they clarified my zoning for the second property, which is CUP, rather than the AG-1 that was assigned to it by the city of Atlanta before the city of South Fulton came to be. The good news with that is that I can now build up to 5 SFH per acre rather than 1 SFH per acre. I still have to figure out the gas and sewer easement limitations. More importantly, I don't have to undergo a zone change request!
I am currently not in Atlanta, which complicates things. I don't know how to go about finding a local planner to help me with this.
2b. Finding a civil engineer that's locally based has also been a challenge. I have emailed many of them who just said that what I am looking for is a civil engineer, and they are "so" and "so" engineers. I finally got a response after posting on Upwork. I was originally trying to get someone to quickly check out the land to make sure there are no flooding issues. However, based on the price quote she gave, I may just trust the 2013 FEMA data till I get a geotech engineer to assess the site once I get the other engineers to help me plan out the layout of the land. Let me know if this sounds reasonable.
I have been chatting with a few architectural firms. However, one of the two local firms has never done subdivisions, and the other does not provide a land layout, only plans for each house model. The non-local firm was supposed to provide some prelim designs by now, but I am struggling with needing to remind them of the scope of the project after each call. I don't think they will work out for me. I am back to the drawing board.
3. I started reviewing the application requirements, which don't seem to be bad once I am able to get a solid engineering team on board.
4. I have not started on this yet.
@Paul H., I really appreciate your feedback, and it has been a good guide for me in this process.
@Scott Mac, that's a great point. I have been trying to think of those things. I think once I get an engineer onboard, I will be able to make better contingency plans.
@Doug Smith, that's a really good point. I have been trying to find a local firm that can spearhead the project in Atlanta. As Paul suggested, I am looking for an architectural firm that can provide most of the necessary steps till we get permitted.
@Chris Seveney, that's a good point. Unfortunately, reaching the city has not been easy, but I learned that the new city has zoned my property differently since its inception. So, now, I do not need to request zone changes.
@Jamaal Ragland, I will send you a message shortly.
Thank you so much to everyone!