Savannah building & ADU permits

Accessory dwelling units in Georgia are regulated locally; there is no statewide ADU mandate, so rules vary by city and county.

Georgia has no statewide upzoning law; residential density is set by local zoning, with Atlanta pursuing its own reforms.

Savannah regulates accessory dwelling units through 'NewZO,' the city's modern zoning ordinance, which introduced new flexibility to build ADUs — locally familiar as garage apartments or carriage houses. Georgia has no statewide ADU mandate, so these local rules govern where and how an accessory unit can be added.

Under NewZO, an ADU is generally limited to between roughly 400 and 600 square feet and may contain no more than one bedroom. ADUs are newly permitted in single-family districts, but typically only on lots at least 200 percent of the district's minimum lot area. An important exception removes that lot-size threshold in the TC, TN, D, and R-1 districts — the city's more historic neighborhoods, where carriage houses and garage apartments are a long-established housing type. Height and setback standards apply, and a unit in a historic or conservation overlay district may require architectural review for compatibility with surrounding structures — a real consideration in Savannah, much of whose downtown sits within a nationally recognized historic district.

The city has continued to study its accessory-dwelling rules, so a homeowner should confirm the current standards and any overlay requirements for their specific parcel before designing a unit.

This is an informational summary — verify current rules with the city's planning/permitting department; not legal advice.

See also: Georgia ADU law and what is an ADU?