Who administers zoning in Savannah, the city or the county?

Both work through a shared technical agency, the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC), which reviews rezonings and site plans for the city and unincorporated county, but the City of Savannah retains final approval authority for parcels inside city limits.

Do I need historic-district approval to build in downtown Savannah?

In most cases yes. The Savannah Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District, and exterior work or new construction within its boundaries requires design review by the Historic District Board of Review in addition to standard zoning approval.

How do I find the current zoning for an address in Savannah?

The Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission is the authoritative source for the current zoning map and ordinance text, and the Chatham County Board of Assessors provides the underlying parcel records.

Savannah, Georgia · city zoning districts

Savannah, GA zoning map & districts

Savannah's zoning is administered through the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC), a joint city-county technical planning agency that reviews rezonings and site plans for both the city and unincorporated Chatham County, though the City of Savannah retains final approval authority over parcels within city limits. Savannah has been working through a significant zoning ordinance update in recent years, so developers should confirm which version of the code — and which district-naming convention — currently applies to a given parcel before relying on older references.

The code Savannah Zoning Ordinance

Savannah zoning map

The Chatham County Board of Assessors maintains parcel and ownership records, and the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission is the authoritative source for the current zoning map and district text.

There is no link to the official map here yet — confirm current district boundaries directly with the Savannah planning or zoning department.

A published summary is never the authority. The adopted ordinance and the city's official zoning map govern, and both change — verify the district and every standard on your parcel before you rely on it.

How zoning works in Savannah

The dominant overlay for developers is the Savannah Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District covering the downtown core, where the Historic District Board of Review conducts design review on top of whatever base zoning district applies — a near-mandatory step for any exterior work or new construction downtown.

Reference depth

No district table for Savannah yet

There is no district-by-district table on this page. We publish one only where every code in it has been read against the currently adopted ordinance — and in some cities there is no district structure to tabulate in the first place. The overview above is the accurate account of which situation Savannah is in, and where to confirm below points at the authoritative source.

Where a table is coming, it lands in the order the state layer does — and the Georgia waitlist below is the queue that decides that order.

Savannah zoning — common questions

Who administers zoning in Savannah, the city or the county?: Both work through a shared technical agency, the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC), which reviews rezonings and site plans for the city and unincorporated county, but the City of Savannah retains final approval authority for parcels inside city limits.
Do I need historic-district approval to build in downtown Savannah?: In most cases yes. The Savannah Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District, and exterior work or new construction within its boundaries requires design review by the Historic District Board of Review in addition to standard zoning approval.
How do I find the current zoning for an address in Savannah?: The Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission is the authoritative source for the current zoning map and ordinance text, and the Chatham County Board of Assessors provides the underlying parcel records.

Working in Georgia? Get on the list.

The parcel layer lands in the order demand does. Illinois went first because that's where the deals were; the next state is decided by who tells us what they're trying to underwrite. Tell us where you're building and what you wanted to run — you'll hear from us when Georgia opens, and sooner if we need a test parcel.

Keep reading

← Georgia zoning — who holds the zoning power in Georgia, under which enabling statute, and the reforms that override local rules.

Other Georgia cities

The zoning reference → — every state, plus city-level district guides like this one.

Savannah zoning summaries on this page are provided for information, not legal advice. Confirm every project against the current adopted code for the jurisdiction.