By Eric Curl
July 6, 2025 – This week, the Savannah City Council will weigh zoning for a 1,500-unit Bush Road development, new heat-stress rules for horse carriages, a property tax rollback, and a vetoed master plan amendment. Meanwhile, Pooler’s council will consider buying land and approving new building plans, while Tybee Island’s city council will vote on maintaining the current property tax rate along with a SPLOST revenue agreement that includes beach renourishment and infrastructure funding.
Read some of this week’s meeting highlights in the column below. To find the full agendas and see who is meeting go to Meeting Agendas – Savannah Agenda.
SAVANNAH CITY COUNCIL
Bush Road development
The Savannah City Council will consider a zoning map amendment for a planned development on 671.53 Acres at 302 Bush Road and 420 Bush Road west of Interstate 95. Upon completion, the project could see the construction of up to 1,500 dwelling units with recreational amenities and the potential for up to 30,000 square feet of neighborhood-scale commercial uses, according to the staff report.
Horse Carriage Ordinance
The council will also consider an amendment to horse carriage regulations to provide for wet bulb globe temperature heat stress measurements, a “comprehensive measurement” that considers the cooling effect of evaporation, solar radiation and ambient heat, in addition to a standard outdoor temperature, as outlined in a recent staff memo to the council.
Savannah currently has two licensed carriage companies operating with a combined fleet of approximately 30 horses on a rotation.
Alderman Nick Palumbo is proposing an alternative to City Manager Jay Melder’s efforts to move to a wet-globe-temperature measurement. Palumbo said in a Facebook post that he requested an amendment to the city code that would lower the operational temperature by 10 degrees to an 85-degree maximum.
“I believe this would place us as the lowest operational temperature threshold in the USA – 5 degrees lower than NYC, Chicago, and Portland,” Palumbo said. “If it were only up to me, we would ban the practice outright, but this is a collective decision of our Council.”
Palumbo’s anti-carriage-tour stance resulted in a bucket of water being thrown on him while participating in a protest on Saturday, as reported by WTOC.
Mayor Van Johnson recently said in June during one of his weekly “Friday Night Live” Facebook sessions that he is opposed to an outright ban on horse carriage tours, as long as the horse are taken care of.
“As I understand it, the type of horses that are here, the type of horses that basically, if they’re not usable to plow fields, then they’re made into dog food. And I don’t want that to happen,” Johnson said.
Tax rate rollback
In addition, the city council will consider rolling back the property tax rate to 11.749 mills after property values grew by 8.8% in 2025. New growth accounted for more than half of the digest’s increase in 2025 and represented $441 million of taxable property value being placed on the tax roll of Savannah, according to city officials.
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Vetoed master plan amendment
The council will again consider an amendment to the master plan for Highlands Park within the Godley Station planned development, which would allow for multifamily residential use such as apartments. The amendment was approved by the council at the previous meeting, but Mayor Van Johnson later vetoed the vote.
Johnson said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday that he vetoed the vote, which he initially supported, after it became clear to him that some testimony given may not have reflected the entire story. He said that while two crucial road projects are expected to be on the upcoming SPLOST referendum to address traffic issues in that area, the projects remain a “cake dream” until they actually happen.
“So I think the residents out there really need some more assurances that we are moving positively in the infrastructure space before we add any additional development,” he said.
The city council has the ability to override the veto with a two-thirds vote, Johnson added.
“During the next week’s council meeting, I hope that they will certainly consider what we have heard and what we’ve learned since I did not take this action lightly,” he said.
POOLER CITY COUNCIL
On Monday, The Pooler City Council will consider the purchase of property across from city hall at 103 Chestnut St. after postponing consideration of the $1.6 million acquisition at the June 2 meeting.
In addition, the city council will consider a site development plan for a one-story retail building at 103 Half Moon Way and a three-story office building at 105 Half Moon Way.
TYBEE ISLAND CITY COUNCIL
On Thursday, the Tybee Island City Council is set to adopt an intergovernmental agreement with the county that establishes how SPLOST revenues will be distributed approved by voters.
Tybee’s proposed allotment includes $8 million for beach renourishment and improvements, about $4.4 million for stormwater and other infrastructure, and $1.5 to help service debt on a new fire station.
Beach erosion recently resulted in the closure of the 2nd Street Crossover, according to a Facebook post by the city.
Will Boswell recently posted a Facebook reel of a timelapse video showing the erosion on Tybee over the years at https://www.facebook.com/reel/870055617653651
The Tybee council is also scheduled to hold a first reading to maintain the current property tax rate. The tax digest increased by 2.68%, but city officials are recommending the rate not be rolled back because of “significant uncertainty in the in the national economy, and escalating construction and materials costs.”
If approved by voters, the one percent sales tax will continue for a period of six years with collections beginning on October 1, 2026.
To find the full agendas and see who is meeting, go to Meeting Agendas – Savannah Agenda.
HOUSING/HOMELESS MATTERS
Housing Voucher Waiting List
The Housing Authority of Savannah (HAS) is opening its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program waiting list on Monday through Friday, according to a press release issued Thursday. The voucher program provides rental assistance to eligible low-income individuals and families, allowing them to rent housing in the private market. HAS will select the first 1,500 applicants for placement on the waitlist, based on date and time of application submission in the online portal. To qualify, applicants’ income may not exceed 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI).
The housing authority’s board is scheduled to meet on Wednesday. The agenda is now available to view.
Chatham-Savannah Homeless Authority relocating
The Chatham Savannah Authority for the Homeless is moving its triage/access center staff to Union Mission’s Grace House Day Center and co-locating their administrative team members and deploying outreach services from Goodwill Southeast Georgia’s Sallie Mood location.
During the transition, CSAH’s offices will be closed from July 7-11, although the street outreach team will still be active, according to a notice sent out July 1.
The pending relocations after being notified in April that their lease for space at 761 Wheaton St. would not be renewed, as previously reported.
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