Chatham County sits on Georgia's coast, where salt-marsh grasses and other native tidal vegetation are protected under the state Coastal Marshlands Protection Act. Altering marsh, filling, or clearing native marsh plants requires a state Marsh Permit.
There is no ordinance forcing homeowners to plant natives, but native coastal vegetation is strongly protected. The Coastal Marshlands Protection Act (O.C.G.A. § 12-5-280 et seq.) gives Georgia DNR's Coastal Resources Division authority over 'coastal marshlands,' which include marshland, intertidal areas, mudflats, tidal water bottoms, and salt marsh within the estuarine area (up to 5.6 feet above mean high tide). Erecting structures, dredging, filling, or otherwise altering marsh — including removing native marsh grasses like Spartina — requires a Marsh Permit. Landscaping with drought-tolerant Georgia natives is encouraged for water conservation, and Tybee Island adds sea-turtle-friendly and dune-vegetation protections along the shore.
Unpermitted alteration of protected marshlands can bring state enforcement, civil penalties, and mandatory restoration under the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act, administered by Georgia DNR.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Chatham County, GA
Chatham County has no standalone hoarding statute, but it curbs hoarding through hard numeric pet limits (8 cats, 6 dogs per acre) and its cruelty/neglect pr...
Chatham County, GA
Chatham County's animal-control chapter sets no specific wildlife-feeding ban. Wild, game, and protected species are handled by the Georgia Department of Nat...
Chatham County, GA
Chatham County's curfew ordinance (Sec. 11-122) makes it unlawful for minors 16 or younger to be unsupervised in parks, playgrounds, and other public places ...
Chatham County, GA
Chatham County has no general light-trespass ordinance; spillover from a neighbor's lights is handled through zoning standards or nuisance law. On Tybee Isla...
Chatham County, GA
Chatham County has no countywide dark-sky ordinance, but Tybee Island enforces a sea-turtle lighting rule (Land Development Code Sec. 3-230). From May 1 to O...
Chatham County, GA
Garage-sale signs are temporary signs regulated by the NewZO sign standards (Sec. 9.9). Small temporary signs are addressed in Sec. 9.9.10 (signs allowed wit...
See how Chatham County's native plants rules stack up against other locations.
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