Georgia · Savannah

Savannah

Savannah permits short-term vacation rentals (STVRs) only with a city-issued Short-Term Vacation Rental (STVR) Certificate plus a Business Tax Certificate (BTC), and layers BOTH a hard numeric cap AND hard zoning limits on top — hence "restricted" rather than "allowed_with_registration". Governing law is Savannah Code of Ordinances, Division II, Part 8, Chapter 11 ("Short-Term Vacation Rentals"), §§ 8-11010—8-11018, together with the zoning overlay at Chapter 3 (Zoning, NEWZO, effective September 1, 2019), Article 7.0, Sec. 7.5 "Short-term Vacation Rental Overlay District" (STVRD). The chapter's editor's note confirms "Ord. of 11-10-2014(2), adopted November 10, 2014, set out provisions intended for use as §§ 8-10009—8-10017" and "Ord. of 8-3-2017(2), adopted August 3, 2017, set out provisions intended for use as §§ 8-10011, 8-10013, 8-10015 and 8-10017", with provisions originally intended as §§ 8-10010—8-10018 redesignated as §§ 8-11010—8-11018 "to preserve the existing style of this Code" (which is why the code text still cross-references "section 8-10011"). The city's regulations page confirms the regulations were "approved by City Council on 8/3/2017 and 9/28/2017". An STVR is "an accommodation for transient guests where, in exchange for compensation, a residential dwelling unit is provided for lodging for a period of time not to exceed 30 consecutive days". Certificates are annual, site-specific and non-transferable. FEES: $400.00 non-refundable new application; $250.00 non-refundable annual renewal (optional Zoning Confirmation Letter $50.00). Applications are accepted only through the STVR Registration Portal (str.deckard.com/ga-chatham-city_of_savannah). GEOGRAPHY — CORRECTED AND MATERIALLY EXPANDED VS DRAFT: the draft described only the overlay and omitted what happens outside it. Per the city, STVRs are "permitted within the short-term vacation rental overlay district" (the Downtown, Victorian and Streetcar local historic districts), and outside that overlay they are allowed only in "certain Business and Agriculture zoning classifications (B-C, B-N, B-L and A-1)". STVRs are therefore effectively PROHIBITED in ordinary residential zoning outside the three historic districts — this, not merely the cap, is the strongest basis for "restricted". KEY LIMIT — the 20% per-ward cap: in both the Downtown Historic District (Sec. 7.5.4) and the Victorian District (Sec. 7.5.5), "For parcels of land that are not owner-occupied, the short-term vacation rental use is limited to no more than 20% of residential parcels within the ward where the property is located." Owner-occupied parcels are exempt from this cap, and the city publishes the list of wards at capacity. Grandfathering (verbatim, Ch. 11): "Annual renewals of certificates issued to parcels with existing certificates, including parcels for which certificate applications have been filed before September 28, 2017 ('Pre-Existing Certificates') shall not be denied on the grounds that issuance of a certificate will exceed the per-ward maximum cap limitation." On a title transfer: "a new application from the transferee/grantee shall not be denied on the grounds that the issuance of a certificate will exceed the pre-ward maximum cap limitation if the transferee/grantee applies for a new short-term vacation rental certificate(s) within six months from the date of title transfer." The city's regulations page dates the per-ward cap as effective September 29, 2017. In the Streetcar Historic District's TN-2 zoning (Sec. 7.5.6): "In the TN-2 district, a short-term vacation rental use is limited to parcels with two (2) or more dwelling units where at least one (1) dwelling unit is owner-occupied." OCCUPANCY: "The number of occupants shall not exceed four (4) adults for dwelling units with no more than two bedrooms; for dwelling units with three or more bedrooms, the number shall not exceed two (2) adults per bedroom for any new short-term certificates issued after September 28, 2017." (The code also carries an older/base formulation — "The number of occupants shall not exceed two (2) adults per bedroom plus two (2) adults for each dwelling" — applicable to certificates predating that date; the draft omitted this.) Operational duties include a designated STVR agent "available for and responsive to contact at all times" who must "[a]ppear on the premises of any short-term vacation rental unit within two hours following notification from the city", notice to the city within five business days if the agent changes, proof of insurance, notice to "[a]ll of-record property owners adjacent to a proposed short-term vacation rental ... prior to the issuance of an initial short-term vacation rental certificate", posting a legible copy of the certificate and the rental agreement in the unit, and publishing the certificate number and exemplar rental agreement "in every print, digital, or internet advertisement and any property listing". TAXES: 8% city hotel/motel excise tax — "The new Hotel/Motel Excise Tax Rate is 8 percent (8%) effective September 1, 2023" (up from 6%, via the city's transition to the O.C.G.A. 48-13-51(b) authorization clause in May 2023); 7% combined state+local sales & use tax (independently confirmed against the official GA DOR General Rate Chart effective July 1, 2026 – September 30, 2026, which lists "025 Chatham 7 LE S"; the city page likewise refers to "the 7% State Use and Sales Tax", both due by the 20th of the following month); and the $5.00-per-night Georgia State Hotel-Motel Fee ("a $5.00 per night fee on each calendar night an accommodation is rented or leased"), which for platform bookings is collected and remitted by the marketplace innkeeper and stops applying at 31+ consecutive days to the same customer. ENFORCEMENT is graduated: $500 first violation, $750 second within 12 months, $1,000 third within 12 months, and "[t]hree code violations for a particular property within a period of 12 consecutive months" triggers revocation plus rejection of new applications for that property for 12 months.

Not legal advice. Last verified 2026-07-15 · sources linked below.