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Old 06-02-2015, 10:56 AM
 
Location: Savannah
2,099 posts, read 2,258,481 times
Reputation: 1336

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travric thank you for your thoughts. I would love to hear this kind of in depth thoughts of our city from more visitors like yourself. I will say I have not been to NYC more than a couple times and look forward to going there again. Don't worry our squares and that site are not going anywhere, at least any time soon. They are as sacred as Central Park. The culture of Savannah and Charleston is strong. Families here for generations have cared for the cities and as many here have pointed out this has actually been economically fortuitous.

Thanks and come again! Did you get all the way in to the city and see the Victorian neighborhoods and the southern-most Squares and Bonaventure? Also I love how downtown neighbors care for their "tree lawns" on their own. So each sidewalk block to block here is unique, its own plants and so forth. Our city is like a quilt of many colors and patterns block to block.
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Old 06-02-2015, 11:18 AM
 
474 posts, read 581,562 times
Reputation: 307
Quote:
Originally Posted by SavannahLife View Post
And the video billboards as I noted are also unfortunate. I'm surprised a tourist focused Chamber of Commerce didn't step in, in its own best interests, on that. The regular billboards aren't that bad, in comparison. Why not just stick with them? The video ones are way over the top and just awful. Hotels command high rates here because our city is beautiful. If it becomes seedy like Myrtle Beach, will they be able to charge as much?
I recall the billboard conversation happening around 2007. Under the original deal, Lamar removed 87 print billboards throughout Savannah's older neighborhoods. Once upon a time, you used to be able to drive down Skidaway or Bull and there would be billboard after billboard in residential areas, albeit they were probably only six or seven feet off the ground. Removing these 87 removed a lot of clutter.

In exchange, City Council allowed 14 electronic billboards to be placed in commercial areas, predominantly on the Southside. At the time, it seemed like a good compromise because Lamar helped clean up older, residential neighborhoods, and in exchange they were allowed more profitable electronic billboards in higher volume areas.

Fast forward to 2011, Savannah City Council decided they did not like the reality of what the electronic billboards had become, which led to the typical name-calling, unproductive squabbles that City Council is known for.

The City Council then proposed banning any new electronic billboards. This ordinance ultimately devolved into a new resolution proposed by then City Manager, Small-Toney, which called for new billboards to be at least 2500 feet from an existing billboard. Finally, a resolution allowing Lamar three new electronic billboards was approved in September 2011, along with a directive for planning staff to revise the ordinance to clarify the use of electronic billboards.

Around this time, press coverage by the SMN falls off.

So, you see, the effect has been noticed, but nothing really was done.

Savannah council ready to nix digital billboards | savannahnow.com

Savannah City Council OKs new bar at old Malone's | savannahnow.com

Fight LNG, council told | savannahnow.com
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Old 06-02-2015, 11:51 AM
 
Location: Savannah
2,099 posts, read 2,258,481 times
Reputation: 1336
Thanks AJC. Very interesting, thank you for the indepth background. 87 billboards on the islands. Way to un-attract people to the beach and therefore your business. Sigh. Like we need another driver distraction on I-16 / 516. Another reason to vote council out.
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Old 06-02-2015, 02:42 PM
 
Location: Savannah GA
13,709 posts, read 21,777,695 times
Reputation: 10184
Quote:
Originally Posted by ellie View Post
There aren't more than two or three hundred people if you sit down and count active residences around the squares. Not much you can do against three million visitors.
Never really thought of it that way before, and I suppose you're right if you're talking about private residences that actually FACE a square. But there's surely many more people than that living within the 22 WARDS that surround each square. Remember, Oglethorpe's original plan was based on a series of wards, each containing four residential ("tything") blocks and four civic ("trust") blocks. arrayed AROUND a central square for military reasons. The tything blocks contained ten lots each, separated by an alley (or lane) for a total of 40 houses in each ward.

As the graphic below shows, the most that could in fact FRONT a square according to the original plan was 8-10.



Obviously, that original plan no longer holds true -- especially around the 4 original squares (Johnson, Ellis, Telfair and Wright) where there are NO private residences to my knowledge. And of course, several of the later squares have residences on the EAST and WEST lots instead of civic buildings or churches (Mercer House being the most obvious).

Also, though each of the squares is exactly 200 feet N-S they vary widely E-W, and most of the origiinal tything lots have been subdivided over the years, so it's hard to say just how many residential lots actually FRONT a square. The SE side of Monterrey Square has 10 houses fronting East Gordon Street, but West Gordon Street has just 8 -- 2 mansions and 3 duplexes. On the opposite (north) side, on Taylor Street, there are 5 more grand mansions, 5 rowhoues and a couple of duplexs for a toal of 12 properties. Counting Mercer House and the neighboring duplex where Emma Adler still lives, that's 32 private residential properties on Monterey Square. That does not include the homes on the OUTSIDE of the ward (opposite the lanes). Nor does it take into account the many subdivided prooperties, rental units, carriage house apartments, etc.

So yes ... while I suppose it might be true that only 300 or so people own residential properties fronting one of the squares, there are certainly HUNDREDS MORE homeowners (and thousands of residents) living within the boundaries of the original 24 wards.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SavannahLife View Post
And yet they have done a lot of good for such a small group! I've never met such a stimulating group of folks as the families with generational ties to here that are so committed to their city. In this day and age it's unusual to meet people that say "I like it here, and I'm staying here".
Just to clarify .... very few of those "generational families" still have homes within the Historic District, if they ever did at all. The wealthy class that built all those mansions and townhomes "North of Gaston" died out long ago, or moved south to Ardsley Park starting in the 1920s, and the working / middle class families that occupied more modest neighorhoods to the east, west and south all fled to the far southside in the 1950s. It is true that Savannah's historic preservation movement was started when a group of civic-minded ladies fought to save the Isaiah-Davenport House from demolition in 1955. And Mayor John Rousakis deserve credit for having the vision to remake River Street in the 1970s (with money from President Jimmy Carter). But it really wasn't until SCAD started buying up properties in the 1980s that widespread restoration of obselete buildings began, andl "The Book" came along in the 1990s that outside investors started pouring big $$ into residential and commerical developments downtown.


Quote:
Originally Posted by SavannahLife View Post
And the video billboards as I noted are also unfortunate. I'm surprised a tourist focused Chamber of Commerce didn't step in, in its own best interests, on that. The regular billboards aren't that bad, in comparison. Why not just stick with them? The video ones are way over the top and just awful. Hotels command high rates here because our city is beautiful. If it becomes seedy like Myrtle Beach, will they be able to charge as much?
Uh ... the only "video billboards" I've seen are on the interstates or southside -- NOT downtown. Outside of the historic areas, Savannah is a normal city. What's the big deal?
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Old 06-02-2015, 03:28 PM
 
Location: Savannah
2,099 posts, read 2,258,481 times
Reputation: 1336
the big deal is bright flashing jumbotrons on the interstate people are driving 80mph on and apparently dying frequently on. Kind of a bad place for them. I say just nix them altogether. Why not?

How about a compromise.. Limit the height and size of billboards generally (they probably already do). And ban video billboards just on interstates and historic district. The existing ones would probably need to be grandfathered in and southside exempted as it is already commercialized. What do you think? Oh and yes you're right about the residents on squares I was wandering in my mind as you know I do..

Last edited by SavannahLife; 06-02-2015 at 03:36 PM..
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Old 06-02-2015, 05:59 PM
 
474 posts, read 581,562 times
Reputation: 307
Ok. So, here is the code for digital billboards.

They're still allowed, but the code states "Beginning October 7, 2011 no more than three new digital billboard faces shall be erected or converted in the City of Savannah. Such billboards shall meet all other requirements and development standards of this article" (Code of Ordinances, Section 8-3112, Section (C), Paragraph (5), Subparagraph 9, Clauses 9-12).

Because Lamar has a monopoly on billboards in Savannah, this basically banned them from ever building another billboard in Savannah.

I have permitted a lot of signs for my employer, and this is honestly one of the most convoluted sign codes I've ever seen, particularly the section on digital billboards. If you'd like to take a gander, here is the link...

https://www.municode.com/library/ga/..._S8-3112SIPEEQ
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Old 06-02-2015, 09:45 PM
 
Location: Meinhard
68 posts, read 88,263 times
Reputation: 34
PreservationNation
Saving Savannah: The Preservation Legacy of Anna Colquitt Hunter

Saving Savannah: The Preservation Legacy of Anna Colquitt Hunter - PreservationNation Blog
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Old 06-03-2015, 10:04 AM
 
515 posts, read 627,146 times
Reputation: 208
Savannah's Non-Farm payroll employment growth between April 2014-April 2015 was at 4.6%, which is the second highest percentage in the state behind Gainesville. It added 7,500 jobs.

Table 3. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by state and metropolitan area
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Old 06-04-2015, 10:30 AM
 
6,479 posts, read 7,117,793 times
Reputation: 1970
The accolades keep rolling in for The Grey....
The Grey in Savannah makes Food & Wine’s Restaurants of the Year list | Atlanta Restaurant Scene with John Kessler
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Old 06-04-2015, 12:47 PM
 
Location: Savannah GA
13,709 posts, read 21,777,695 times
Reputation: 10184
Quote:
Originally Posted by Airforceguy View Post
One of just 5 "restaurants of the year" in fact -- the others are in NYC, LA, Minneapolis and San Francisco!
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