Chatham County, GA Noise from Specific Sources: Bar & Nightclub Noise (2026)

Sec. 24-306(1) regulates radios, televisions, phonographs, amplifiers, loud speakers and similar sound equipment generally, but subsection (a) singles out nightlife uses for a stricter standard than the rest of the noise ordinance: bars, taverns, lounges, night clubs, dance halls, game rooms and similar activities are deemed a noise disturbance the moment their sound is plainly audible beyond the premises, with no decibel threshold to clear first. That is a lower bar for enforcement than Sec. 24-304's Table 1, which lets a business run up to 65 dBA at its property line before it counts as a disturbance; a night club instead can violate the ordinance on audibility alone.

The only way around the rule is a permit for the specific activity, and Sec. 24-310 channels that request through the Zoning Administrator/County Noise Control Officer, with the Chatham County Commissioners granting a variance only if the applicant needs more time to comply, the activity is temporary, or no reasonable alternative exists. Chatham County's Noise Control Officer administers and enforces the section under Sec. 24-311 and can issue an abatement order requiring a venue to lower its volume or close its doors and windows. The rule sits within the county's Noise Control Ordinance for the Unincorporated Area of Chatham County (Sec. 24-301), so it reaches nightlife venues operating outside Savannah and the county's other cities, not businesses inside those separately incorporated municipalities.