May 12, 2024 – The Housing Authority of Savannah is waiting to submit a 5-year-action plan required by US Department of Housing and Urban Development. First, the city has to complete an environmental assessment the housing authority needs to move forward with plans to demolish and redevelop the Yamacraw Village housing community, according to the authority’s meeting agenda.
The delayed action plan, which was initially expected to be submitted in January, comes after an assessment last August identified more than $51 million in capital improvements needed for the 82-year-old Yamacraw community, as previously reported.
Find out what else is on the agenda and who else is meeting in the latest Week Ahead, while also getting some updates from last week’s actions.
Stay engaged Savannah,
The Chatham County Board of Elections is meeting at 3:30 p.m. on Monday.
The agenda is now available to view.
Advertise with Savannah Agenda
The SEDA board of directors is meeting on Tuesday at 906 Drayton St.
The agenda is now available to view.
The Housing Authority of Savannah is meeting at 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday at the HAS Neighborhood Resource Center, 1407 Wheaton Street.
The agenda is now available to view.
Weekly updates
33 Bull St. makeover and hotel conversion OK’d
The Historic District Board of Review unanimously approving the request of Parker’s founder CEO Greg Parker, along with his partners, to make alterations to the Bull Street office building fronting Johnson Square and the connected parking garage fronting Broughton Street.
“I’m so glad we got the building because we’ll spend the money on something we can be proud of,” Parker said, as reported Friday.
The review board also approved planned alterations to convert a recently constructed 6-story apartment building at 110 Ann St. into a hotel. Proposed work includes the construction of a new in-ground pool.
Tour vehicle noise ordinance approved
The Savannah City Council approved an ordinance requiring sound control devices on tour service vehicles as a way to regulate unreasonably intrusive levels of sound. The devices include directional speaker systems which prevent tour guides’ amplified narration from being “plainly audible” outside the vehicle, or alternatively, tour guides can speak to their passengers through headphones or earbuds. as reported by GPB’s Benjamin Payne.
East Broad Street complex denied
In addition, the city council voted down Foram Group’s petition to rezone 1.38 acres at East Broad and East Gwinnett streets to accommodate a proposed 4-story, 185-unit mixed-use apartment complex. The vote to deny came after concerns were raised about the height and scale of the complex by speakers and council members. There was also opposition voiced due to the planned demolition of duplexes on the property, impact to a historic brick street and loss of the lane on the site.
“The project is non-incompatible in scale, height or design to the visually surrounded area,” said Ellie Isaacs, Historic Savannah Foundation’s director of Preservation & Historic Properties.
The Metropolitan Planning Commission recommended approval of the rezoning, but with multiple conditions attached. The developer agreed to the conditions with the exception for a density reduction that would have reduced the requested apartments allowed by about 40 units.
Chatham County Commission OKs recreation plans
Chatham County Commissioners approved a location for an indoor recreation complex on Friday. Now they just have to come up with an additional $38 million to pay for the estimated $55 million facility, as reported Saturday. The commission also approved a $5.2 million contract for the construction of improvements at L. Scott Stell Park, including upgrades to the basketball and tennis courts, new pickleball courts and covering the courts with an open-air structure known as an airnasium.
