Gavin Looker

Gavin Looker

Savannah, GA

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The Historic Status of Savannah and What it Means for You

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Published: 2020-07-23 | Modified:
By: Gavin Looker
Posted in: Construction Business
The Historic Status of Savannah and What it Means for You

Today we had a wonderful meeting with three employees from the Department of Planning and Urban Design here in Savannah, Georgia. The three people who joined us for our interview were Bridget Liddy, the Director of Planning and Urban Design, Candra Teshome, the Planning and Zoning Liaison, and Tom Bolton,  the Zoning Plans Examiner for the city of Savannah. Since moving to the city, I had heard rumors that Savannah might lose it's status as a historic city. These kind individuals took the time out of their days to explain to me exactly what being a historic city means, and the impact that could come of losing this status. This interview was conducted via Zoom and the full recording can be found on the Construction Business TV Youtube channel. Remember, show us some love on Instagram too if you found this info interesting or helpful to you!

Q: Could you tell me what it means to be a historic city, and how you gain that classification?

A (Candra Teshome): Of course. Previously, I worked for the Metropolitan Planning Comission. We have about 4 historic districts here that are registered at the local and/or national level. So there are two levels of registration. You can be nationally recognized, with the National Historic Register, or you can be locally recognized, or a combination of both. The difference between the two is that the local designation is accompanied by an ordinance that pretty much establishes regulations for a specific district in order to protect resources in that district, based on the development patterns and necessities for that specific region. So for example, we do have some conservation areas as well, where we are focused on avoiding demolition of existing structures. In other districts we have regulations in place that manage the design standards in an effort to maintain that place value. The thing about a historic block that was developed in the 1800s or the 1700s. So we have several locations here. I'm not exactly an expert on the current status, but I was aware that we are in danger of losing that status. I am also aware that wer are taking some steps to prevent that from happening.

Bridget Liddy: I guess I can fill in where Candra left off, so two years ago, the National Park Service did an assessment of our National Landmark District, and with it, our status changed from Satisfactory to Threatened. The main reason was is because we were having some issues with large scale development, and there were some concerns about us not preserving the environment and using the archaeology ordinance and the cultural resources ordinance. We are in the process of working on that now, but we are still currently at a Threatened level. By no stretch of the imagination would the report from the National Parks Survey take away our historic status, it's more of a report card on how we are doing, and right now we are in the Threatened Status. We are trying to do multiple different things in order to bring it back down to a Satisfactory level.

Q: What exactly is leading to this threatened status? Is it just new construction?

A (Bridget Liddy): It's large scale new construction where the buildings are coming in and the historic development patterns are being challenged. For example, if you have a large apartment complex or a hotel that's coming in on a lot that once had a historic lane that went through it and the developer wants to build over that lane, yet the code and the historic development patterns say, "Hey timeout, you need to restore the lane as part of the development process!" and so there's conflict between the developer, who is looking at a large scale development and trying to maximize the development. Then we have the preservationists and the code saying it needs to go a certain pathway in order to preserve the historic development pattern.

Q: What specific protections are afforded to cities with a historic status? What benefits are there to being considered a historic district?

A (Candra Teshome): I think there is plenty of research that demonstrates that parcels and their associated construction that are within historic local ordinances or national districts, typically tend to benefit from higher resell value. those parcels tend to be higher in terms of their value vs. those that are not within the boundaries of a historic district. So if you have a structure from the 1800s but then you have an adjacent parcel you come in and you want to build something new adjacent to that parcel, it makes perfect sense to ensure that the quality of that construction, the setbacks are maintained, the lot coverage is maintained, to just keep the overall feel of that particular district. So I think that essentially, it's been proven that there are multiple benefits to preservation, including a sense of place. A sense of time. And also property values so there are multiple, multiple benefits.

Q: Are any of you aware of any current construction projects that are threatening Savannah's historic status?

A: (Bridget Liddy): Sure! If you want to know about the specific ones, there was a vacant lot at Oglethorpe and Habersham Street, in downtown Savannah. It was owned by the city of Savannah. The city of Savannah declared it surplus property. When it was declared as surplus property, the entire parcel to include the lane that as part of the original development pattern was also included. So it's just a blank huge vacant lot. When the individuals bid on that, they bid on it, thinking that they could build onto the entire parcel. When it came to light that indeed, the development should include the historic lane that had been there previously, the city worked with the developer to come up with an alternative solution that was presented to the review body, which was the Historic Preservation Comission, in order to ensure that it was meeting the code. So that's what kind of happens when we have a large scale developer come in and try to do a different development that isn't in sync with the code. That's what transpired.

Q: Is SCAD having an impact on the historical status?

A (Candra Teshome): I cannot really speak to that. I cannot speak to speculation about that. However, what I can say is that they have put forth a very good effort in terms of properties that they have acquired to maintain their historic status. Any time that SCAD comes in and is working on a project, that is associated with a historic district, they definitely go through the process with which to get that done properly.

Q: When you want to renovate or buy a home (in a historic district), do you have to have a specialty contractor to do that work for you?

A (Candra Teshome) : I wouldn't say that. That would be HPC and the City of Savannah are for. So let's say that I purchase a lot. It could be a vacant lot. It would be very beneficial to work with an architect with historic background. However, that is the process that the HPC will take an individual through. They can submit a permit or Certificate of Appropriateness. In the event there is anything that is inappropriate within their plans, then they (the HPC) will work with them vigorously through that process. However, as Bridget mentioned, we are ironing out the archaeology ordinance so that we focus on things that are not only above ground, but also those things that are below ground. So to answer the question, I do not think at all that someone needs to have a full time, fully dedicated team of archaeologists and historic preservationists to meet the guidelines of the City of Savannah, though it would make it easier. 

Q: Are there any construction limitations when it comes to historic districts?

A (Candra Teshome): Speaking specifically of height, we do have a height map we must abide by. That was meticulously created. So depending on the adjacency of a parcel within a historic district or outside of it an adjacent to it. There are construction restrictions in place in terms of height.

Bridget Liddy: What they have are a series of visual compatibility requirements that have to be met as well as development standards. And with the visual compatibility piece, there's flexibility in there to pull in modern designs in the context of a historic district. Provided that it is visually compatible with the surrounding area. So even though you are building a property in 2020, you can still use modern building materials, you can use new trends in the architecture world to incorporate into your designs, provided that they are up to standard.

Candra Teshome: That's absolutely correct, Bridget. In addition, if you are making changes to an existing historic structure, you are required not to mimic history. There are design standards that take into account current construction practices, while also trying to preserve the sense of place.

Q: Is there a way to create new historic zones?

A (Bridget Liddy): There's a process that occurs where the area has to be surveyed to deem whether it can be considered historic. Once that has been determined, then an application is submitted to the state, and then the state reviews the information, and the the state passes it along to the US Department of Interior, and they review that information to determine whether or not the information in the report is accurate. From that they can go ahead and designate a historic district. One of the most recent ones we did as historic Harbor Village, which is in the west part of our city. With that designation, the city moved forward in designating that to be a conservation district, in order to provide some protections from demolitions as well as preserving the lot pattern.

Q: What are the 4 historic districts in Savannah?

A (Candra Teshome): We have the Savannah Downtown historic district which is close to River Street, the Victorian district which is exactly south of that, directly south of that is the Streetcar historic district, and to the west of that is the  Cuyller-Brownville historic district. We also have Ardsley Park, and the Carver Village which Bridget mentioned earlier. we have Ardmore and Parkside Conservation district as well.

Another huge thank you to Bridget and Candra for taking the time out of their days to provide me with this information. As you can see from the interview, Savannah's historic status is threatened, but in good hands. If you are a contractor looking to expand into Savannah's construction industry, don't be intimidated by restrictions on historic districts! Savannah welcomes you and looks forward to working with you. 

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