Forsyth County runs one of the most structured commercial plan-review calendars in metro Atlanta: a fixed weekly submittal deadline, a scheduled review meeting, a separate stormwater approval gate and a bond before the pre-construction meeting. Owners who know the calendar get through it; owners who do not lose a week at a time. These are the twenty questions we answer most often for commercial clients in Cumming and unincorporated Forsyth. The narrative version is our Forsyth County LDP process guide.
Key takeaways
- Plans are due by 5:00 p.m. Monday; a plan review meeting with every department follows nine business days later. The LDP must be issued within 12 months of first submittal.
- Commercial site-development sets need architectural elevations, a physical color and material board (18 x 24 inches maximum) and a photometric lighting plan, not just civil sheets.
- The Stormwater Management Report is approved separately by Engineering and must be approved before plan sign-off can be scheduled.
- Budget a $3,000-per-acre land-disturbance performance bond and the county’s $40-per-acre share of the NPDES fee.
The 20 questions
1. When does a Forsyth County commercial project need an LDP?
Under UDC Chapter 7, no land-disturbing activity may begin until the Department of Planning and Community Development has issued a land disturbance permit under Ordinance 73, unless the activity is expressly excepted (Forsyth County UDC Chapter 7). For a commercial site that means clearing, grading, utilities, parking and stormwater all require the LDP before the building permit.
2. What is the submittal deadline and review schedule?
Plans and supporting documents are submitted by 5:00 p.m. on Monday (holiday Mondays roll to the next business day), and the plan review meeting with all reviewing departments is held nine business days after the deadline (Forsyth County UDC Chapter 7). Corrected plans re-enter on a later Monday. Each missed Monday costs a full week, which is why we stage our submittals around that clock.
3. How do I submit, and what are the payment fees?
Applications and payments go through the county’s online Customer Self-Service (CSS) portal. Since August 22, 2024, card payments carry a 3.55% service fee with a $2.50 minimum and e-checks a $1.50 fee (Forsyth County Development Review). Plan-review and permit fee amounts are set by the county fee schedule and change; confirm them in the portal when you apply.
4. Do I need a sketch plat first?
If the tract or the disturbance is two acres or more (five acres in M1 industrial zoning), a sketch plat must be submitted to the Director and approved by the Board of Commissioners after a public hearing before any LDP can be issued (Forsyth County UDC sketch plat provisions). That is a separate calendar from plan review and should start first. Our Forsyth County subdivision timeline post covers how long it runs.
5. What has to be on the cover sheet?
The county’s commercial site-development checklist requires the title “Site Development Plans,” the owner’s and engineer’s contact information, the engineer’s or surveyor’s seal and signature, a 24-hour erosion-control contact, a scaled vicinity map, total and disturbed acreage, a note addressing Chapter 21 overlay districts, and several bold notes covering construction hours (7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, none Sunday), no burning or burying of waste, underground utilities, landscaping in place before as-built approval, and as-built approval before certificate of occupancy (Forsyth County Commercial SD Checklist).
6. What architectural materials does Planning want with a civil set?
More than most counties. The checklist requires complete elevation drawings of every building with dimensions and materials, a materials schedule with percentages, and an actual physical color and material board no larger than 18 by 24 inches labeled by manufacturer, style and color, with each material keyed to its location on the building (Forsyth County Commercial SD Checklist). This is where the architect and the civil engineer have to be coordinated before Monday, not after.
7. Is a lighting plan required?
Yes. A lighting plan with photometric data and fixture cut-sheets, showing the property lines, is a listed submittal (Forsyth County Commercial SD Checklist). Light trespass at residential property lines is a routine comment on retail and self-storage sites.
8. How are zoning conditions handled?
The signed zoning resolution or approval letter (rezoning, ZA, CUP) must be copied onto the plans, and a design that reduces open space or otherwise departs from the public-hearing concept plan is flagged in review (Forsyth County Commercial SD Checklist). If the conditions and the civil design disagree, the conditions win. We reconcile them on the first sheet.
9. Which overlay districts might apply?
UDC Chapter 21, Articles II through V, establishes overlay districts with their own design, landscaping and building standards, and every site-development cover sheet must carry a note stating whether and how they apply (Forsyth County Commercial SD Checklist). Corridor sites on GA 400, GA 20 and GA 9 are the usual candidates; check before you pick a facade material.
10. How is stormwater approved?
Separately. The Engineering checklist states that the Stormwater Management Report must be approved before plan sign-off can be scheduled, and asks the engineer to schedule a meeting with the stormwater reviewer to go over hydrology comments (Forsyth County Engineering Commercial Site Plan Checklist). A clean site plan cannot sign off until the report is approved. Design criteria are in our Forsyth County stormwater requirements post.
11. What drainage design criteria does Engineering enforce?
Design storm sewers for the 25-year storm, and the 100-year storm on live streams, cross drains serving 20 acres or more, and any pipe receiving off-site drainage. Minimum pipe size is 18 inches, minimum slope 1%, with 12 inches of compacted cover and 2.8 feet from pipe top to pavement under roads. Concrete pipe is required under pavement in the right-of-way and where cover exceeds 15 feet. Provide 20-foot drainage easements on pipes and watercourses receiving off-site flow and a 20-foot access easement from the right-of-way to every stormwater facility (Forsyth County Engineering Commercial Site Plan Checklist).
12. What slopes are allowed on cut and fill?
Maximum cut slopes are 2H:1V. Continuous fill slopes 10 feet or less may be 2H:1V; continuous fills over 10 feet must be 3H:1V unless a mechanically stabilized slope is approved by the Director of Engineering or the slope is certified by a Georgia-licensed geotechnical engineer (Forsyth County Engineering Commercial Site Plan Checklist). On a sloped pad, the fill-slope rule often decides whether you grade or build a wall.
13. What are the retaining wall rules?
Modular retaining wall designs go to the Department of Engineering for approval before construction-plan approval, with site-specific details signed and sealed by a Georgia-registered professional engineer. Walls over 30 inches high need a fence or handrail along the top, and top and bottom wall elevations must be spotted on the grading plan (Forsyth County Engineering Commercial Site Plan Checklist). Wall design is part of our land development engineering scope.
14. What stream buffers and wetland notes are required?
Jurisdictional waters must be delineated and labeled with a 50-foot undisturbed vegetative buffer and a 75-foot impervious setback measured from the top of bank, and any site with wetlands must carry the note that a Section 404 permit from the Corps of Engineers is required before disturbance (Forsyth County Commercial SD Checklist). Undisturbed buffers must be fenced with orange four-foot tree-save fencing before any land disturbance (Forsyth County Engineering Commercial Site Plan Checklist).
15. Does GDOT have to approve my entrance?
On a state route, yes, before the LDP is issued. The Engineering checklist requires the proposed entrance and construction-exit location and details to be approved by GDOT’s Gainesville District prior to permit issuance (Forsyth County Engineering Commercial Site Plan Checklist). GDOT’s review runs on its own schedule; we submit the driveway permit in parallel with the county set.
16. What bond is required?
A land-disturbance performance bond under Ordinance 73, Section V.B.7(b), of $3,000 per acre or fraction thereof of proposed disturbance. Bond approval is required before the pre-construction meeting can be scheduled (Forsyth County Engineering Commercial Site Plan Checklist). Order the bond when comments are nearly resolved so it is not the last item holding up the pre-con.
17. What NPDES items does the county require?
A copy of the Notice of Intent filed with Georgia EPD, payment of the county’s $40-per-disturbed-acre share of the NPDES fee, and the applicable permit text (GAR100001, GAR100002 or GAR100003, Part IV inspection requirements) printed on the plans. Stormwater NPDES comments must be satisfactorily addressed before plan approval (Forsyth County Commercial SD Checklist; Engineering Checklist).
18. How long is the approval good for?
The LDP must be approved and issued within 12 months of the initial plan submittal date; after that, a new application and new plan-review fees are required (Forsyth County UDC Chapter 7). Projects that stall on financing can lose their place in line.
19. What is required before the certificate of occupancy?
Two items that catch owners late: required landscaping must be in place before the as-built is approved, and as-built approval is required before the final building inspection and certificate of occupancy on commercial projects (Forsyth County Commercial SD Checklist). The as-built includes the engineer’s certification that the storm system and detention perform as designed; budget the survey and the certification, and schedule them before the tenant’s move-in date.
20. What about water and sewer?
Forsyth County Water and Sewer is the provider for most of the unincorporated county, and the plans must indicate provisions for water supply and sewage disposal. If the site is approved for septic, the cover sheet must carry the county’s note that the tank, drainfield and back-up drainfield be provided within the lot (Forsyth County Commercial SD Checklist). Sewer capacity and tap fees are confirmed with the utility, not through plan review, and should be in hand before the site plan is finalized.
How Mack Engineering runs a Forsyth commercial LDP
We work backward from the Monday calendar. The feasibility exhibit settles buffers, overlay applicability, fill slopes and the detention footprint; the architectural elevations, material board and photometrics are coordinated with your architect before the first submittal; and the stormwater report goes to Engineering on the same Monday as the plans so both gates move together. Our Cumming civil engineering page and Lake Lanier area page describe the local work. When owners want construction oversight as well, our sister company provides owner’s-representative and project management services and builds in Cumming and Forsyth County.
Planning a commercial project in Forsyth County? We will map your site against the buffers, overlays, fill-slope rules and stormwater criteria, and give you a Monday-by-Monday schedule to permit. Contact Mack Engineering or call (770) 715-7295.
Compare requirements across counties on our commercial LDPs by county page, and see commercial site development and retail pad site engineering for the full scope.
Related reading
- Forsyth County LDP Plans: What You Need to Know (Cumming)
- Forsyth County Subdivision Approval 2026: Timeline & Costs
- Forsyth County Stormwater Requirements 2026: Developer’s Guide
- Civil Engineering for Land Development in Atlanta, GA
- Civil Engineer in Cumming & Forsyth County, GA
- Lake Lanier’s Best Civil Engineer
- Project & Capital Management (Mack Development)
- Custom Home Builder in Cumming, GA (Mack Development)
Sources
- Forsyth County Unified Development Code, Chapter 7 Permits, Certificates and Fees
- Forsyth County Planning and Community Development, Commercial Site Development Plan Review Checklist (January 2023)
- Forsyth County Department of Engineering, Commercial Site Plan Checklist
- Forsyth County Development Review Division (CSS portal, payment service fees)
- Forsyth County UDC, sketch plat requirement (2-acre tract or disturbance; 5 acres in M1)
This article is general information, not a site-specific engineering opinion. Code requirements and local ordinances change; confirm current requirements with the authority having jurisdiction for your property.