Chatham County starts public outreach under $300,000 resilience grant to review codes and ordinances

Chatham County’s resiliency office told commissioners the county has received a roughly $300,000 grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to review and propose updates to local codes and ordinances related to climate change resilience and hazard mitigation. Staff said the grant began in October 2024 and that the project is entering the public input phase for year one of a two‑year effort.

“...we are now entering the public process, the initial public input and public comment period ... We have a number of upcoming public events and pop up events. We have one set for February 14 at the Farmers Market ... We also have a survey that is now live,” Miss Jackson, county resiliency staff, told the commission. She said two community visioning sessions are scheduled Feb. 26 at 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., and the county will push information via its website, social media and a press release.

The stated outcome of the grant is to develop a package of proposed code and ordinance amendments or new provisions that the county and City of Savannah could consider to improve resilience to coastal hazards, the staff presentation said. Commissioner Patrick K. Farrell and others praised the outreach; Commissioner Wagner urged the commission to consider policy steps to support the resiliency office’s work, calling resilience “a people issue.”

County staff encouraged elected officials, stakeholders and the public to take the survey and attend the visioning sessions; staff said further rounds of public engagement and draft recommendations will follow the initial outreach phase.