What is the Unified Zoning Ordinance and Why is it Important?
Adopted nearly a half century ago, both zoning ordinances are showing their age in a number of areas which has led to inefficiency, redundancy, and confusing and contradictory processes among other concerns. A comprehensive evaluation of the ordinances can be found in the Zoning Assessment Report. Through the Unified Zoning Ordinance process, the following will be possible: • Implementation of the Comprehensive Plan. As mentioned in the Background section, the UZO will serve as vital tool to implement the Chatham County-Savannah Comprehensive Plan, including the Future Development Map which will provide guidance for future rezoning. • Unification of Existing Zoning Ordinances: A unified zoning ordinance will consolidate the existing zoning ordinances for Chatham County and Savannah into one document, a Unified Zoning Ordinance, for greater consistency and efficiency. Combined, both ordinances contain approximately 700 pages of regulations and 126 zoning districts. While some standards
