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Georgia Conservation Use Valuation Assessment (CUVA) — Rezoning Constraint (GA)

Tracked preemption from the Georgia overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
1992-01-01
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:GA
Other Georgia preemptions
Georgia Short-Term Rentals — No State PreemptionGeorgia Density / ADU / Design Review — No State PreemptionGeorgia Tree Canopy / Tree Ordinance — No Statewide PreemptionGeorgia Development of Regional Impact (DRI) Review ThresholdGeorgia Zoning Procedures Law (ZPL)Georgia Rent Control Preemption (constrains mandatory inclusionary zoning)Georgia Constitutional Home Rule for Planning and ZoningGeorgia Manufactured Home Act — Construction Standards Preemption

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

AND
  • city.has_active_cuva_covenants == True
  • parcel.has_active_cuva_covenant == True

Preempted fields

2 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
rezoning_decision.cuva_breach_penalty_appliesoverrideTrueRezoning of CUVA-covenanted property from agricultural to residential/commercial breaches the 10-year covenant and triggers back-taxes plus 2x penalty (even if owner-initiated)
subdivision_decision.cuva_breach_penalty_appliesoverrideTrue

Citation

Authority source
O.C.G.A. §48-5-7.4 (Conservation Use Valuation Assessment covenant program)
§ §48-5-7.4
https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-48/chapter-5/article-1/section-48-5-7-4/

Research notes

Not a zoning preemption per se — it is a tax-assessment-zoning interaction. Property owners of bona fide agricultural/timber/environmentally sensitive land (up to 2,000 acres per owner) may enter a 10-year covenant to be taxed at current-use value (typically 40-60% lower than market). Breach (rezoning, subdivision, conversion to non-ag use) triggers back-taxes + 2x penalty. Especially relevant at the rural fringe of metro Atlanta (Cherokee, Forsyth, Coweta, Paulding, Newton, Barrow, Hall counties). Some counties informally delay rezonings to align with CUVA expiration. Diligence CUVA status before requesting rezoning.