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Dawson County Public Works Driveway & Permit Regulations I. GENERAL GUIDANCE 1. Applicant declares he is the owner of the real property abutting the above described county or public road and has the lawful authority to apply for this permit. Permit signature forms must be signed by the property owner unless the contractor has written authorization signed by the property owner to obtain permits for them. 2. Absolutely no work is to begin without having the permit in hand. Once the permit is submitted to the Public Works department, please allow 2-3 days for the driveway permit to be processed. ALL WORK IS TO BE COMPLETED WITHIN ONE YEAR OF ISSUING THE PERMIT. AFTER INSTALLATION, CALL FOR FINAL INSPECTION. ONLY APPROVED DRIVEWAYS WILL BE ENTERED INTO THE COUNTY MAINTAINCE SYSTEM. IF WORK IS NOT COMPLETED THE PERMIT WILL BE CONSIDERD EXPIRED AND THE APPLICANT WILL HAVE TO REAPPLY BEFORE WORK CAN COMMENCE. 3. Any improvements, plantings, or structure located within the right of way is subject to removal or alteration at the owner’s risk as necessary for street improvements, installation or repair of utilities or to improve visibility. Owner also understands that he must bear all repair costs to said installation or structure located within the right of way in the event that work is performed within said right of way 4. The location, design and construction of the driveway shall be in accordance with the following standards. These standards are in no case to be modified unless specifically authorized by the Public Works Director: 6. A driveway shall be located and restricted as to width as necessary driveway and its appurtenances are contained within the frontage along the highway of the property served. At public highway intersections a driveway shall not provide direct ingress or egress to or from the public highway intersection area and shall not encroach on or occupy areas of the roadway or right-of-way deemed necessary for effective traffic control or for highway signs or signals. This shall not be construed to pertain to property outside the right-of-way, except common access. A driveway shall be so located and constructed that vehicles approaching or using it will have adequate sight distance in both directions along the highway. ---PAGE BREAK--- Dawson County Public Works Driveway & Permit Regulations I. GENERAL GUIDANCE (continued) MINIMUM MAXIMIUM Residential 8' 16' Residential-duplex 8' 22' Apartments 10' 30' Commercial: One-way 15' 25' Two-way 20' 40' Industrial 20' 40' 2. A driveway permit may be denied when, in the opinion of the Public Works Director, lack of adequate sight distance would create a traffic safety hazard. The applicant may be required to remove brush, widen cut banks, relocate the proposed driveway, or otherwise satisfy sight distance requirements and to ensure that those distances are maintained. The minimum recommended sight distances for the estimated speed of the traffic are given below. The sight distance should be measured from the height of the driver’s eye or approximately 42": SPEED (MPH) MINIMUM SIGHT DISTANCE (FEET) 25 150' 30 200' 35 225' 40 275' 45 325' 50 400' 55 450' 3. Failure to construct the driveway in conformance with the provisions written herein or plans attached hereto may result in cancellation of the permit and removal of the partially constructed approach or approaches at the applicant’s sole expense. Permittee shall remove or alter the above installation within five days written notice from the Department of Public Works. ---PAGE BREAK--- Dawson County Public Works Driveway & Permit Regulations I. GENERAL GUIDANCE (continued) 4. Dawson County recognizes 3 types of Driveways: a. Residential – serves a single residence, may include accessory uses that do not change the character of use in vehicle type or volume. This may also include farm uses b. Common Access- serves as any person seeking an building permit or occupancy permit requested for lots of record, or proposed subdivision of land, whereby two but not more than five parcels or lots are to be served by a common driveway. If the common access driveway serves three or more dwellings, a private road application must be submitted to the Public Works Department a. Commercial – serves all other access needs that are not Residential use. 5. Dawson County Public Works may require the property owner to submit a survey and/or engineered design and or a traffic control plan prior to approving permit. Design shall include, but is not limited to, site distance, culvert/ditch consideration, surfacing type, slopes for inside and outside the right of way, traffic control, etc. 6. This permit is revocable by order of the Director of Public Works. If Public Works deems the driveway to not comply with any of the regulations set forth in this permit or an immediate danger to the public then Public Works reserves the right to withdraw and terminate the permit at any time. 10. If the driveway permit is denied by the Public Works Director, the applicant can appeal the Public Works Director's decision to the Board of Commissioners, who shall hear testimony from the applicant. The Board of Commissioners may either approve or deny the application. ---PAGE BREAK--- Dawson County Public Works Driveway Permit Regulations II. CONSTRUCTION REGULATIONS LOCATES: • Driveway location must be marked prior to the road inspector visiting site. This can be accomplished by using stakes with flagging, paint lines, or any other marks that are very obvious. • The property owner may be required to locate and mark property corners prior to issuing the driveway permit. The inspector will notify the owner of this requirement if necessary. DRIVEWAY ALIGNMENT: • The driveway shall intersect the county road at 60 to 90 degrees or per Public Works Director. • For road approaches in curb and gutter sections of road, the curb may be constructed by either pouring the driveway directly up to the back of the curb or by removing the curb and gutter and pouring a valley gutter. When curb and gutter is removed for constructing a driveway, the new connections shall be of equivalent acceptable material and curb returns shall be provided or restored in a neat, workmanlike manner. The driveway or valley gutter surface shall connect with the highway pavement and sidewalks, if any, in a neat workmanlike manner. In no case shall the driveway construction impair the flow of water in the gutter. DRIVEWAYS THAT CROSS STATE WATERS WITH A CULVERT CULVERTS: • The applicant shall bear all of the initial costs of the installation of the culvert. • Once approved by Public Works Department, Dawson county shall be responsible for repair and replacement of the culvert per the discretion of the Public Works Department. • Culverts shall be placed in straight lines perpendicular to county right of way, and have a minimum fall of 1" in 20 feet or approximately Bell ends of pipe shall be placed facing toward the inlet (upstream) end of the culvert. Culverts shall be sized by the Public Works Department. Minimum culvert diameter shall be 15” for Residential Driveway or 18” for Common Access Driveway. Any questions or problems regarding this paragraph shall be resolved prior to proceeding with any further work. • Flow line of culvert shall match the flow line of the ditch and allow for a minimum of (12”) of cover over metal pipe. Cover materials shall maintain a 2% slope away from the roadway to the back of the ditch. Cover materials shall be compactable material. • Culvert length shall be determined by the amount of cover. There shall be no steeper than a 1.5:1 from the driving surface or top of curb, to the top of the installed culvert. Culverts within roadside ditches shall be HDPE (High Density Poly Ethylene) or RCP (Reinforced Concrete Pipe), joints for HDPE and RCP shall be “bailed up” to prevent silt from entering the system. • Corrugated Steel or Aluminum Pipe is prohibited within Dawson Count right of way. ---PAGE BREAK--- Dawson County Public Works Driveway Permit Regulations CONSTRUCTION REGULATIONS (continued) • Pipe cover shall be according to road classification: • County maintained road right of way shall require a minimum of 12” of granular cover. Where 12” of cover is not achievable because of site conditions, pipe shall require further review by the Public Works Department. Contractor shall take adequate precautions to protect the culvert during construction where less than 12” of cover is provided. • Culvert pipes of dis-similar material may not be joined. Remove and replace with all one pipe type. DRIVEWAYS THAT CROSS STATE WATERS WITH A CULVERT: • A Georgia Registered civil engineering or surveying consultant shall prepare a design with plans for the culvert crossing with all applicable calculations for the 100-year storm including erosion control measures for the stream crossing (pipe size, type, slope, etc). • A Georgia Registered civil engineering or surveying consultant shall prepare a preconstruction notification (PCN) for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and obtain associated approval. • The consultant will need to notify the GA EPD regarding the crossing. (Georgia Department of Natural Resources Notification Form) • You may apply for a building and driveway permit; however, note that it is recommended not disturb • the creek buffers until the USACE PCN is complete. • Once the USACE PCN is complete/approved, an additional a land disturbance permit will be required for the actual stream crossing (200ft within state waters) DRIVEWAY CONSTRUCTION: • Subgrade for driveways shall have a compaction rate of 95% or more before driveway material is applied. The county will not be responsible for any “settling” that occurs and causes damage finished material. It will be the discretion of the public works director whether or not this has occurred. Driveway surfaces will be the responsibility of the property owner to maintain. Below are generally recommended standards for single family driveways: Acceptable driveway materials are as follows: • Gravel- 57 stone, GAB, and Asphalt Millings are county preferred materials Any deviations other than specified above will need approval by the Public Works Department • Concrete- thickness shall be a minimum of 4” and a maximum of 6”and reinforced with wire mesh. All concrete shall have a mix of a minimum of 3000 PSI (Pounds per square inch) ---PAGE BREAK--- Dawson County Public Works Driveway Permit Regulations CONSTRUCTION REGULATIONS (continued) • Driveway should be sloped toward the street at a minimum of 1% or 1/8 per foot • Asphalt- thickness shall be a minimum 2” and a maximum of 6” Driveway should be sloped toward the street at a minimum of 1% or 1/8 per foot For Common Access Driveways see the Dawson County Driveway Ordnance for Specifications INSPECTION REGULATIONS INSPECTION: • Proper barricades and warning signs must be maintained at all times during construction by the holder of this permit so as to ensure the safety of the motoring public. • The county road is to be restored to its original or better than condition. All excess rock or dirt is to be removed from traveled portion of the road by brooming or washing as directed. Final cleanup is to be completed within one week after the approach is constructed. • Call for a final inspection. Once final inspection the culvert will be entered into the county maintenance program.