Planning & Zoning Commission

The Planning & Zoning Commission is a five member local body appointed by the Mayor and City Council. Commissioners must be residents of the City of Harlem and are appointed for four year terms. The Commission holds public meetings on requests for rezoning, conditional uses, variances, and subdivision of property. The Commission also recommends and reviews amendments to the Planning and Zoning code of the City, as well as helps to formulate and review the Comprehensive Plan and other City land use studies. The recommendations of the Commission and any other information are forwarded to the City Council for final action.

The deadline for submittal is the date that all information needed for an application must be submitted to the City of Harlem Community Development Department. This deadline ensures enough time to notify the public of the pending application via the Columbia County News-Times and at the proposed location. This also gives City of Harlem staff sufficient time to review the request and prepare a recommendation for the Commission to consider. 

Public comment on land use applications is essential to the approval process. Public comments allow for consideration of all issues, both pro and con, to be heard at the public hearing and eventually considered by the Mayor and Harlem City Council.

Please see the bottom of this page for a sample general Public Comments Form. This form is used to receive comments on any land use issue. Specific comment forms are developed for each land use application and will be available at the Planning Commission meeting.

Also located at the bottom of the page is the Policies and Procedures of the Planning Commission. These are used to conduct public hearings for land use applicaitons. 

Applications for rezoning, conditional use, and variances are provided below.

Request for Zoning Action

There are three types of zoning actions: rezoning, conditional use, and variance. A more detailed explanation of each is as follows:

A rezoning is required when a property owner wishes to change the land use district of their property to permit a new use. An example would be changing a piece of property from residential to commercial. Before requesting this change, applicants are required to hold a pre-application meeting with Planning & Zoning staff to go over the application and for staff to provide further information on the application. After the pre-app meeting, the applicant can request the rezoning. Department staff will review the request utilizing the Land Development code and Comprehensive Plan. Other departments, such as Public Works and Public Safety, will be consulted with as well. Staff will prepare a recommendation for the Commission which will be presented to the Commission and applicant at a public meeting. Public comment is welcome and encouraged.

There is a ten-minute limit for both pro- and con- presentations.

The Planning Commission strongly urges submission of written comments, data, evidence and opinions. Written comments made be submitted at Harlem City Hall, 320 N Louisville Street, mailed to Planning Commission, P.O. Box 99, Harlem, GA  30814, or emailed to djenkins@harlemga.org.

The Commission will deliberate on the request and provide its recommendation to City Council. The City Council will then hear the request at its next meeting and provide final action. Only after this final step can work commence. Please select the Rezoning Application Form below to begin the process.

A conditional use permits a certain use of property that the Planning & Zoning Commission and City Council have determined is a more intensive use than is normally permitted in that district. Because of the higher intensity of the use and the potential negative impact on surrounding property, conditional uses listed in the Code of Ordinances are required to go before the Planning & Zoning Commission for a recommendation and City Council for final action. Applications for a conditional use follow the same procedure as a rezoning. Please see the Conditional Use Application Form below to begin the application process. A listing of conditional uses, broken down into residential and commercial zoning classifications, is available starting at Part III - Chapter 108-44.

A variance permits a property owner, because of unusual, exceptional, or extraordinary circumstances or conditions applying to their property, to request a change to required development codes that only applies to their lot. An example would be requesting a change to minimum front yard setbacks to allow for a house of the minimum size to be built on a parcel that otherwise would not be able to because of extraordinary circumstances or conditions. All variance requests are required to go before the Planning & Zoning Commission for a recommendation and City Council for final action. A variance request follows the same procedures as a rezoning. Please select the Variance Application Form below to start the Variance application process.

For more information please contact the department at 706-556-0043.