Savannah's Thomas Square Neighborhood's commercially zoned portfolio grew last week.
Savannah City Council voted to rezone seven properties on East 40th Street from Traditional Neighborhood-2 to Traditional Commercial-1, increasing the permitted commercial uses at the seven properties. The rezonings came via petition by the property owners who were seeking greater flexibility with their properties as the neighborhood grows.
"Together we’re committed to improving and making the best of this block,” said one of the property owners, Matthew Beatty, who is renovating 2309 Drayton St. “Most everyone agrees that TC-1 zoning is most appropriate, because this block has evolved into a commercial area."
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The rezoned properties were 8, 19, 20, 23, 25, and 101 E. 40th St. and 2309 Drayton St. The group of properties is located around the intersection of East 40th Street and Drayton Street and nearly all of them currently have a residential use.
The new TC-1 zoning allows for over 30 additional uses, including restaurants, distilleries, bars and offices. Given the wide range, the petitioners sent a letter to the TSNA outlining a variety of uses within TC-1 they would be happy to eliminate, said HunterMaclean attorney Joshua Yellin, who represented the property owners at council.
Some of those uses the group proposed eliminating were liquor stores, vehicle repair shops and pawn shops.
“We do believe that this block is very unique, that this is not a block where we’re trying to bring in a use that’s out of place or uses that are out of place,” Yellin said.
However, the Thomas Square Neighborhood Association’s neighborhood primary concern was owner-occupied short-term vacation rentals. The TSNA supported the rezonings under the condition those STVRs would not be permitted on the properties, citing concerns the sites would become “party pads.”
TSNA President Linda VanApeldoorn referenced neighborhood surveys in 2017 and 2026 that showed residents are opposed to non-owner occupied STVRs in the neighborhood.
“The respondents’ primary desire was to keep Thomas Square a residential neighborhood where the homes and businesses are owned by the people that live there,” she said.
Council ultimately attached the TSNA’s request to its approval after the petitioners also agreed to the request.
The stretch of properties are located in a section of the neighborhood increasingly dominated by commercial use. Roughly one block away, across Bull Street, is Starland Yard; the entertainment district including Moodrights, Over Yonder and Lone Wolf Lounge is a less-than five-minute walk away.
On East 40th Street between Drayton Street and Bull Street is Brochu’s Family tradition and the new Garden Square Bar and Restaurant. There is also a large, surface parking lot on the block.
The properties’ location between those two nightlight hubs has created some challenges to operating them residentially, Yellin said. Parking is consistently hard to find, and late-night foot traffic is common.
“We are wedged in between this commercial corridor, and what they are asking for is flexibility,” Yellin said.
Evan Lasseter is the City of Savannah and Chatham County government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at ELasseter@savannahnow.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: String of Starland District properties rezoned to commercial
