Housing Information

Zoning Text Amendment Update - Affordable Housing Initiative

On November 7, 2024, the City and MPC staff presented a zoning* text amendment to increase density in return for inclusion of affordable housing in the TR-, TN-, and TC- zoning districts. The amendment reduces the minimum lot area per unit and permits additional housing types (duplex, triplex, and quad) to promote affordable housing in line with the 2021 Housing Savannah Action Plan. 

In order to verify that affordable units are being included in the newly allowed developments, the text amendment enables a new Housing Diversity and Density Program, which will be administered in partnership between property owners and the City’s Housing Services and Planning and Urban Design departments. The program is only available to development projects that include certified affordable housing, as defined by the Housing Affordability Resolution adopted on November 7, 2024, and is intended to promote certified scattered-site affordable housing options across walkable, transit accessible neighborhoods. 

Following valuable City Council feedback which emphasized the need for more targeted community engagement, staff revised the proposal to include an Affordable Housing Overlay District. 

Instead of allowing the increased density and additional housing types across all of the applicable zoning districts, the Affordable Housing Overlay District limits those options to specific neighborhoods. This district also offers the flexibility to introduce further affordability tools in the future. Other neighborhoods can request the Affordable Housing Overlay District in the future and have new housing options tailored to their neighborhood character. The areas proposed in the Affordable Housing Overlay District are:

  1. Victorian District
  2. Thomas Square/Metropolitan 
  3. Live Oak (TR-2 only)

Revised Proposal Highlights

  1. The Affordable Housing Overlay District encourages diverse housing options to enhance housing affordability
  2. The Affordable Housing Overlay District determines which neighborhoods and zoning districts are eligible to participate in the Housing Diversity and Density Program, which supports affordable housing by reducing lot size requirements and allowing additional housing types 
  3. More neighborhoods and zoning districts can be added to the Overlay District map through a neighborhood-initiated public process

 

Next Steps

  1. March 27, 2025 City Council approved the 2nd reading for the zoning text amendment which included the Affordable Housing Overlay District.  
  2. April 24, 2025 City Council: Public hearing and zoning map amendment for the overlay district.

City staff will continue collaborating with neighborhoods associations to ensure the incremental zoning code and zoning map changes best address the housing affordability challenges in each neighborhood.  

* “Zoning” refers to the regulations that govern the development of buildings and use of land. These regulations have two components: the zoning ordinance (including a description of zoning districts) and a zoning map. Zoning districts have different classifications, each with their own allowed standards for development and land uses suitable for the development pattern in that area. A zoning map tells users which districts apply to each property.