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Georgia Development of Regional Impact (DRI) Review Threshold (GA)

Tracked preemption from the Georgia overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
1989-07-01
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 Conservation Use Valuation Assessment (CUVA) — Rezoning ConstraintGeorgia 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.

OR
  • project.residential_units ≥ 400
  • project.office_sqft ≥ 400000
  • project.commercial_sqft ≥ 300000
  • project.industrial_sqft ≥ 1000000
  • project.hotel_rooms ≥ 400
  • project.mixed_use_acres ≥ 100

Preempted fields

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

FieldOpValueNote
review_typeoverriderequires_regional_commission_dri_reviewLocal zoning approval cannot proceed until the Regional Commission (or ARC for metro Atlanta) completes the DRI review process; thresholds are tier-adjusted by jurisdiction size and regional commission
review_timeline.dri_minimum_review_daysfloor_at50DRI review process typically requires 50+ calendar days from initial DRI form submission to final report

Citation

Authority source
O.C.G.A. §50-8-7.1(b)(2); DCA Rules Chapter 110-12-3 (DRI Procedures)
§ DCA Rules 110-12-3; ARC reviews for the 11-county metro Atlanta region
https://www.dca.ga.gov/local-government-assistance/planning/development-regional-impact-dri

Research notes

DRI review is procedural — the Regional Commission (RC) or Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC for the metro Atlanta region) issues a non-binding finding on regional impacts (transportation, infrastructure, environment, housing). Local government may still approve a project receiving an unfavorable DRI finding, but doing so foregoes future state DCA Qualified Local Government (QLG) status and grant eligibility. Thresholds vary by RC tier; values shown are typical ARC metro thresholds. is_metro_atlanta city attribute drives ARC vs. other RC review path. Verify thresholds against current DCA rules for the applicable RC.