MPC staff, on behalf of the Historic District Board of Review (HDBR) and the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), is requesting approval for text amendments to the Savannah Zoning Ordinance to revise the definition of "stucco", add a definition for "true stucco", and clarify "true stucco" with the Savannah Downtown, Victorian, Cuyler-Brownville, and Streetcar Historic Overlay Districts. The Downtown Savannah DBR and the Savannah HPC discovered, during the course of the typical Certificate of Appropriate review process, that the definition of "true stucco" is not adequately defined in Sec. 13.5 Defined Terms, Historic within the zoning ordinance. Additionally, they found that it is only appropriate for buildings to have "true stucco" (as defined in the proposed definition) within the local historic districts and, therefore, propose to adjust that language throughout Secs. 7.8 Savannah Downtown Historic Overlay District, 7.9 Victorian Historic Overlay District, 7.10 Cuyler-Brownville Historic Overlay District, and 7.11 Streetcar Historic Overlay District. 

After drafting the proposed text amendments at the request of the HDBR and HPC, MPC staff presented the proposed text amendments during two public HPC meetings, as well as an HDBR meeting. Additionally, MPC staff invited neighborhood association presidents/liaisons (via email) of all four historic districts to a virtual meeting to discuss and accept comments regarding the proposed amendment. The DNA liaison and Cuyler-Brownville President attended the meeting and provided comments which are incorporated in the proposed amendment. 

The Planning Commission recommends approval of the petition for text amendments to the Savannah Zoning Ordinance to revise the definition of "stucco", add a definition for "true stucco", and clarify "true stucco" with the four historic overlay districts to include the Savannah Downtown, Victorian, Cuyler-Brownville, and Streetcar Historic Overlay Districts.