ADU Pass
Savannah
Chatham County portion
Also in: No County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 11 ZIP codes.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: unclear
Georgia leaves ADU regulation to local municipalities under home-rule or Dillon-rule authority. Savannah permits ADUs subject to local conditions per its zoning ordinance.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $1,500 | $33,000 | $34,500 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,500 | $132,000 | $133,500 |
| midpoint | 525 | $1,500 | $115,500 | $117,000 |
| maximum | 900 | $1,500 | $198,000 | $199,500 |
Fee breakdown
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of ADU generally permitted; landlord-tenant law and any city rental-registration ordinance apply.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions STR rules vary by city. Savannah regulates STRs separately from ADU permitting; check local STR ordinance and HOA covenants.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires home occupation permit or rezoning.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted with restrictions on signage and customer traffic.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist studio is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Limited urban agriculture permitted in residential zones; livestock varies by district.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU explicitly permitted in single-family zones.
Utilities
- Water: Savannah Water Utility · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: Savannah Sewer / Wastewater · 30d connect · $5,500
- Electric: Savannah Electric Utility · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: Savannah Gas Utility · 30d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 10mo · worst 16mo
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Georgia has no HOA-ADU preemption; HOA covenants restricting ADUs are enforceable.
Regulatory overlays (2)
- coastal-zone
Savannah has coastal-zone overlay; coastal development permit may be required for some sites. - historic-district
Savannah historic districts trigger Architectural Review Board / Historic Preservation Commission review for ADUs in historic boundaries.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: City of Savannah Municipal Code — Accessory Dwelling Units, adopted 2020-01-01, last amended 2024-04-01
- 2024-01-01 — City of Savannah ADU code refresh (city-ordinance)
Conforming local-code amendments aligning with current Georgia accessory-dwelling framework.
Effect: Codified permissive ADU standards consistent with state law and local zoning.
Chatham County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Chatham County, GA (301,000 residents including Savannah) operates the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) jointly with the City of Savannah. Most ADU activity in Chatham occurs inside the City of Savannah, governed by the Savannah Zoning Ordinance. Unincorporated Chatham (including significant areas of Tybee Island, Pooler, Garden City, Bloomingdale, Port Wentworth, Vernonburg, Thunderbolt) has its own zoning ordinance.
State-floor overlay: No GA statewide ADU preemption.
County regulatory overlays
Chatham County administers flood-hazard, and (where mapped) coastal, wildland-fire, historic, and airport overlays that shape ADU project feasibility. The most consistent overlay across the county is FEMA NFIP floodplain regulation; other overlays apply to specific geographies inside the county.
- FEMA NFIP Special Flood Hazard Areas in Chatham County — A new ADU in a mapped SFHA must be elevated to or above the Base Flood Elevation; cost impact on the project is often material.
- Historic districts and individually-listed historic resources
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Chatham County issues building permits for parcels in unincorporated territory through its development services / planning department, with separate review tracks for zoning conformance, building-code compliance, on-site sewage where applicable, floodplain compliance, and addressing. Inside incorporated municipalities, city departments handle their own permits; the county's authority is geographically limited to unincorporated territory. An ADU permit application is typically processed as a residential building permit with a zoning verification step against the county's ordinance for the parcel's zoning district.
Georgia state — ADU law and programs
State financing programs
Georgia does not operate an ADU-specific statewide loan, grant, or forgivable-loan program. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) administers the Georgia Dream homeownership program, which includes the Georgia Dream Standard, Georgia Dream Hardest Hit Fund DPA, and (effective 2025-07-01) the Georgia Dream Peach Advantage Loan Program for expanded down-payment assistance. None target ADU construction directly; an ADU-bearing primary residence can qualify for the underlying Georgia Dream first mortgage when other eligibility criteria are met.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.
ZIP Codes
- 31401
- 31404
- 31405
- 31406
- 31407
- 31408
- 31409
- 31410
- 31411
- 31415
- 31419
Post Office
- 10701 Abercorn St, 31419
- 1348 Eisenhower Dr, 31406
- 1900 E Victory Dr Ste 3, 31404
- 2 N Fahm St Rm 1a, 31401
- 3601 Montgomery St, 31405
- 37 N Schmidt St Ste 102, 31409
- 4431 Augusta Rd, 31408
- 463 Johnny Mercer Blvd Ste B2, 31410