Pooler's Proposed Impact Fee and the Permit Date That Decides Which New Homes Carry It

Two new houses in the same Pooler community can share a floor plan, a finish package and an asking price, and only one of them may carry a city development fee of several thousand dollars. Under the ordinance Pooler City Council has been finalizing this fall, the date on each building permit decides which one.

The proposal makes the fee due "at the time a building permit is issued," calculated from the schedule in effect on that day. It also says the ordinance takes effect immediately once adopted. Council approved the first reading 6–0 on Oct. 5, 2026, and staff set final adoption for the Oct. 19 meeting. So for anyone comparing new construction in Pooler this fall, the useful question is when a particular house was permitted, more than whether Pooler charges the fee.

The Permit Date Sorts Pooler's New Homes Into Two Groups

The grandfather clause in the proposed ordinance is short and strict. It protects a project only where "a valid building permit has been issued for a platted and recorded lot prior to the effective date," and only "so long as the permit remains valid and construction has commenced and is pursued according to the terms of the permit."

For a buyer looking at a specific house or lot, the clause comes down to three conditions:

• A platted lot alone does not qualify. A finished street of recorded lots with no permits pulled gets no exemption.
• Construction has to keep moving. The exemption depends on work starting and continuing within the permit's terms.
• An extension resets the clock. The text says any "extension or reissuance" requires the applicant to pay the fee.

In practice, homes that were already permitted and under construction before the ordinance took effect sit on one side of the line. Every home started afterward sits on the other. A permit-driven fee isn't charged when an existing home is resold, because the fee is tied to new development activity. The proposal also lists exemptions, including qualifying affordable housing, certain replacement buildings, and additions that add no new demand.

The ordinance places the obligation on the person or entity carrying out the development. That is usually the builder, not the eventual homeowner. Whether the cost then shows up in the buyer's price depends on how much pricing power builders have when the house sells, and that depends on the market.

A Fee That Grows With the House

Savannah and Bryan County each charge one flat amount per single-family home. Pooler's proposed schedule rises with square footage, from $2,173 for a unit of 1,000 square feet or less to $8,394 above 5,500 square feet. Each tier is split among parks, police, fire and streets.

The City of Savannah adopted its program on Feb. 23, 2023, began collecting on July 1, 2023, and phased up to the full amount by Year 3. Its published schedule lists $3,930.85 per detached home. Bryan County charges a transportation fee before a permit is issued. The North Bryan fee of $3,143 took effect Jan. 1, 2026. The South Bryan fee of $3,241 has been in place since 2019, and the county says its study update should be finished by the end of 2026. The City of Richmond Hill issued a request for proposals on Sept. 24, 2026, for a feasibility study to set up its own impact-fee schedule during 2027.

The crossover sits at 1,500 square feet. Below it, a new Pooler home would carry less than Savannah's flat fee. Above it, the Pooler fee is higher and keeps rising. The size range most new subdivisions build, roughly 1,500 to 3,000 square feet, falls in the $4,155 to $5,764 tiers. That's where Pooler would charge more than Savannah or either Bryan County district.

Pooler's document labels its table "Maximum Allowable Impact Fees." Before relying on any of these numbers, check the version Council adopted on the city's ordinances page.

Why the Fee Is Arriving in a Cooling Market

A builder can pass a new cost straight to buyers when buyers are lining up. The Georgia Association of REALTORS® Local Market Update for Chatham County doesn't show that kind of market. In September 2026, single-family homes in Chatham County took 81 days to sell, compared with 61 a year earlier. Months of supply rose from 4.4 to 5.5, and inventory reached 1,941 homes. Closed sales fell 16.4% to 311, and the median sale price slipped 2.2% to $360,000. These are countywide numbers. Pooler sits inside them, but they aren't specific to Pooler.

Pooler's new-home pricing shows the same softness. In October 2026, Landmark 24 was advertising its Harmony community off Blues Drive from $354,999, with plans starting around 1,821 square feet and promotional rates as low as 4.25%, shown alongside a 7.270% APR. One move-in-ready home there was listed at $354,999 after a posted prior price of $406,728. Lennar's Savannah Quarters community in Pooler was showing as temporarily sold out. Builder prices and promotions change quickly, so treat these as a snapshot from October.

Put the fee next to those numbers. A Harmony plan of about 1,800 square feet falls in the $4,155 tier. That's a little over 1% of a $354,999 price and less than a tenth of the markdown on that one home. The fee is small compared with the discounts builders are already offering, which is why its timing matters. A builder pricing against 5.5 months of supply may have little room to add $4,000 or $5,000 to the price. The more likely question is whether the fee comes out of the incentive budget, the land price, or the builder's margin. No public source reports how Pooler builders plan to handle it.

What the Money Is Meant to Build

The fee comes from a study by consulting firm Tischler-Bise. As the Savannah Morning News reported in June, the study projected about $3.9 million a year for the city. It also projected roughly 6,760 new housing units and almost 14,000 new residents over the next decade. The same article said Pooler studied impact fees in 2007 but never applied them, citing a "lack of political will," and restarted the discussion in October 2025. City Planner Nicole Johnson explained the state rules behind the program. The city needs an adopted capital improvements element, the improvements must have a useful life of at least 10 years, and the fees must be spent within six years. Council adopted that capital improvements element in September after state review.

The largest pending project shows what's at stake. The District is a proposed 116-acre development near Pooler Parkway and Pine Barren Road with up to 1,060 homes, 440 hotel rooms, a grocery store and an amphitheater. On Sept. 21, as Savannah Agenda reported, Council voted 4–2 to postpone a decision so the city's own traffic consultant could review the developer's revised study. City staff and the planning and zoning commission had recommended denial over congestion concerns. If a project that size is approved, any homes permitted after the effective date would fall under the fee schedule. That's the kind of growth the program was designed to pay for.

Questions to Bring to a Pooler Sales Office

The ordinance gives buyers specific, answerable questions for new construction:

1. Has the building permit for this home been issued, and on what date?
2. Has construction started, and is it on schedule under that permit?
3. If the home is still a lot or a plan, will its permit be pulled before or after the ordinance's effective date?
4. Does the builder expect any part of the impact fee to appear in the price, or would it be absorbed within current incentives?
5. If an incentive is advertised, what are its terms, and how long does it last?

Pooler's fee rules can set a buyer's real costs. This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice, so please confirm the details of a specific purchase with an attorney, lender or other qualified professional before acting.

A Few Quick Answers

Does the impact fee apply when I buy an existing Pooler home? Under the proposed text, the fee comes due when a building permit is issued for development. The resale of an existing house isn't the event that triggers it.

Is the fee the same for every new home? No. The proposed Pooler schedule rises in 11 tiers by square footage. Savannah and Bryan County each charge one flat amount per single-family home.

Where can I see the final version? The City of Pooler ordinances page lists Ordinance O2026-03.C and separates proposed ordinances from adopted ones.

If you're weighing a Pooler home that's already under construction against a lot with a future permit date, Kati Ann Wright and The Wright Group can go through the permit timing, the pricing and the builder's incentives with you before you sign. Contact Us when you're ready to compare.