Syfert Injury Law Firm

Your Trusted Partner in Personal Injury & Workers' Compensation

Call Now: 904-383-7448
O.C.G.A. § 12-5-288 — Restriction on granting of permits; size restriction; activities and structures considered contrary to public interest | Georgia Code
O.C.G.A. § 12-5-288 (2018) Copy Cite Official Site Syfertize CourtListener Scholar Amendments

TITLE 12 CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Section 5. Water Resources, 12-5-1 through 12-5-586.

ARTICLE 4 COASTAL WATERS, BEACHES, AND SAND DUNES

12-5-288. Restriction on granting of permits; size restriction; activities and structures considered contrary to public interest.

  1. If the project is not water related or dependent on waterfront access or can be satisfied by the use of an alternative nonmarshland site or by use of existing public facilities, a permit usually should not be granted pursuant to Code Section 12-5-286.
  2. The amount of marshlands to be altered must be minimum in size. The following activities and structures are normally considered to be contrary to the public interest when located in coastal marshlands but the final decision as to whether any activity or structure is considered to be in the public interest shall be in the sound discretion of the committee:
    1. Filling of marshlands for residential, commercial, and industrial uses;
    2. Filling of marshlands for private parking lots and private roadways;
    3. Construction of dump sites and depositing of any waste materials or dredge spoil;
    4. Dredging of canals or ditches for the purpose of draining coastal marshlands;
    5. Mining;
    6. Construction of lagoons or impoundments for waste treatment, cooling, agriculture, or aquaculture which would occupy or damage coastal marshlands or life forms therein;
    7. Construction of structures which constitute an obstruction of view to adjoining riparian landowners, including signs and enclosures; and
    8. Occupying a live-aboard for more than 90 days during any calendar year; provided, however, that the commissioner may grant extensions of time beyond 90 days to persons making a request in writing stating the reasons for such extension. Owners of docks where live-aboards are moored as well as owners and occupants of live-aboards are responsible under this part.

(Code 1981, §12-5-288, enacted by Ga. L. 1992, p. 2294, § 1; Ga. L. 2012, p. 1074, § 3/SB 319.)

The 2012 amendment, effective July 1, 2012, in paragraph (b)(8), twice substituted "90 days" for "30 days".

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

No authority regarding residential upland areas.

- Committee's authority to issue a permit under the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act (CPMA), O.C.G.A. § 12-5-280 et seq., did not extend to residential upland areas of the development at issue because the use of the term "otherwise alter" in O.C.G.A. § 12-5-286(a) was not authority for such a determination and, although the developer was required to secure a permit because the developer intended to place structures in the marshlands, the permitting process was not triggered because of any other activity that could have been deemed to "otherwise alter" the marshlands; extending the permitting reach of the committee to upland areas even miles away from the marshes and coastal waters did not mesh with O.C.G.A. § 12-5-288(a)'s admonition that a project not water-related should not gain a permit under the CMPA. Ctr. for a Sustainable Coast v. Coastal Marshlands Prot. Comm., 284 Ga. 736, 670 S.E.2d 429 (2008).

Database error: SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 8 attempt to write a readonly database

This Georgia Code resource is curated by Graham W. Syfert, a personal injury and workers' compensation attorney admitted in Georgia (State Bar of Georgia No. 881027, since 2006) and Florida. For legal consultation, call 904-383-7448.