05/28/2026
TAC Meeting Recap: Broad Concerns Raised About Savannah’s Squares.
Here’s a brief recap of the TAC meeting. Apologies for the delay, I got tied up dealing with car issues.
Faye DiMassimo, City of Savannah Chief of Planning and Economic Development, opened the meeting and introduced Suzette, the mediator from UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute.
Faye stated that the City’s charge is to move forward with the objectives outlined in the Mayor’s TAC letter, and that this process is expected to lead to the development of ordinance language and changes to City Code.
My concern is that the outcome may already be somewhat predetermined by the framing of that letter, with this process serving as the formal opportunity for stakeholders to be heard before new regulations are advanced.
After Faye’s introduction, Suzette facilitated the rest of the meeting.
She asked participants to write down what they love about the squares, then what they experience in the squares. She then asked everyone to identify their biggest concerns, followed by some possible solutions. At each stage, she collected and posted the responses on easel displays for the group to review.
The issues that had the broadest agreement were:
-Vagrancy and crime
-Noise
-The physical condition and maintenance of the squares
The solutions that received the most agreement were:
-City funding for homeless services, police patrols, and code enforcement
-Better communication between the tour business community and neighborhood associations
-Improved maintenance of the squares
The most notable takeaway, in my opinion, is that this meeting was held in response to a TAC letter that strongly suggests new regulations are coming. Yet very little of the actual discussion focused on tours themselves.
That seems important. The concerns raised by the group were mostly about broader public-space management issues rather than tour operations specifically.
