The Mayor and Aldermen recognize and celebrate Savannah’s history of planning with the adoption of Savannah Development and Renewal Authority’s 2033 Downtown Savannah Plan and the Congress for the New Urbanism Eastside Redevelopment Plan and Southside Retrofit Legacy Projects.

The purpose of the 2033 Downtown Savannah Plan is to guide and inspire Savannahians of all walks of life for the next generation, to re-invigorate Savannah’s long history of exceptional city planning, and to leave a lasting legacy for future generations. Key priorities of the Plan include:

• Expanding downtown in a logical, connected fashion to the east and the west;

• Injecting Savannah’s signature, beautiful public space design into more neighborhoods;

• Connecting it all with active transportation;

• Prioritizing quality of life over commuting time; and

• Legalizing Savannah’s historic building types.

The Plan was developed with broad input from the community during 2018 and was presented to the Mayor and Aldermen on August 15, 2019. Feedback from this meeting resulted in staff coordinating with SDRA to host an overview presentation of the Downtown Savannah 2033 Plan for the community on September 17, 2019.

The Congress for the New Urbanism undertook two Legacy Projects—Eastside Redevelopment Plan and Southside Retrofit—as part of their annual conference held in Savannah in May 2018. The Eastside Redevelopment Plan focuses on the residential area of the Eastside Neighborhood and Waters Avenue Corridor and provides a strategy to alleviate mounting developmental pressure while offering residents solutions to concerns like unsafe roadways, lack of community resources, and accessibility to housing.

The Southside Retrofit concentrates on Savannah’s Southside and provides concepts anticipating the growth of Georgia Southern’s Armstrong campus and the repurposing of vacant spaces on Savannah’s Southside into an active town center that would provide local amenities and bridge the surrounding suburban neighborhoods.

Approval