FLOWERY BRANCH -- The Flowery Branch City Council approved an ordinance amendment that will allow future developments to include electric vehicle charging stations at parking spaces at their meeting Thursday night.
The amendment is in one of the city's zoning ordinances and, according to Community Planning and Development Director Rich Atkinson, is meant to prepare for the possibility of such parking spaces.
"It's simply something that the staff felt was coming more prevalent, there's more electric vehicles out there," Atkinson said. "By definition in our ordinance, if it's not mentioned in the ordinance then it's inherently not allowed."
Since there was previously no mention of the stations in the city's codes, Atkinson said a business or property developer would have been unable to implement an electric charging station until the council approved an amendment.
The amendment was unanimously approved, with Councilman Fred Richards asking that a phrase be added to make a special arrangement for property in the city's historic district. Atkinson said the phrase will be added later and will require people applying for a charging station in that district to obtain a certificate of appropriateness.
Property variances and construction litter
The council also approved two more ordinance amendments during the meeting. One is a amendment to the zoning ordinance that will allow the city to change the size of a plot of land to possibly allow for more buildings to be built on a lot.
The second amends a portion of the city's litter control ordinance and will require construction site operators to control any of their construction waste. According to the wording of the amendment, it is meant to keep the waste out of the city's storm water system or other waterways within the city.
Both of the amendments were approved unanimously.
