Chatham County's animal-control chapter sets no beekeeping rule. Hive-keeping is allowed under the Chatham County-Savannah zoning ordinance, which a 2018 amendment opened to limited residential beekeeping. Honeybees are also protected under Georgia's Bee Law (O.C.G.A. Title 2, Chapter 14).
Chapter 22 (Animal Control) governs dogs, cats, livestock, and fowl but contains no honeybee provisions, so the county's animal ordinance sets no hive rule here — placement and hive counts are a zoning matter. The Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission recommended a 2018 zoning amendment allowing unincorporated homeowners to keep a limited number of bees regardless of zoning classification. At the state level, apiaries are regulated by the Georgia Department of Agriculture under the Georgia Bee Law. Beekeepers should confirm their zoning district's specific hive limits and setback requirements and follow good-neighbor practices such as water sources and flyway barriers.
No county animal-code penalty applies to beekeeping; zoning-based hive limits are enforced through the MPC/county code compliance process, and nuisance swarms may be addressed under the general nuisance provisions.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Chatham County, GA
Chatham County and Savannah have no ordinance banning residential backyard composting. Home compost is allowed, but a pile that creates odor, attracts rodent...
Chatham County, GA
Neither Chatham County nor the City of Savannah bans artificial turf on private residential yards. There is no specific county ordinance regulating synthetic...
Chatham County, GA
Chatham County sits on Georgia's coast, where salt-marsh grasses and other native tidal vegetation are protected under the state Coastal Marshlands Protectio...
Chatham County, GA
Georgia encourages rainwater harvesting. Under the state Water Stewardship Act, capturing and reusing rainwater and stormwater is allowed any day at any time...
Chatham County, GA
Georgia's statewide Water Stewardship Act limits landscape irrigation to the hours between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m., year-round, for anyone on an EPD-permitted wat...
Chatham County, GA
The City of Savannah treats accumulated weeds and noxious vegetation on vacant lots and unoccupied parcels as an unlawful nuisance. After notice, the city ca...
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