Georgetown residents opposed to potential housing development

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) – A proposed development for hundreds of homes in Georgetown is getting push back from residents.

Georgetown residents are saying “no” to rezoning plans for close to 400 homes.

“We just don’t want that many houses across the street,” said Susana Lane, who lives in the area.

The proposed development is off Wild Heron Road not far from Georgetown Elementary School.

While many residents weren’t shocked about the proposal…

“We just assumed it would be something identical to the homes surrounding us,” said Patrick Sullivan.

They didn’t expect a development of this size.

“Having a family, you want safety for your kids,” said Shannon Hill.

Public safety is a main concern especially for parents of younger kids.

“Thinking about her playing in the street when we live 100 yards from the intersection, which will be funneling so many of these cars…an extra 800 in our backyard,” said Mary Villegas, who helped start the petition.

Residents want developers to think about scaling down how many homes they’re trying to build.

“We’re kinda piling a lot of homes all on top of each other right across the street from our neighborhood,” said Lane.

A sign sits right off the road saying “stop 400 homes”. More than 500 people have also signed a petition in the past two weeks and someone made a website to make neighbors aware.

Lane said: “We just all want to protect our property values. We have no problem with other people moving into this wonderful neighborhood. We just want to keep it you know the same integrity we’ve always had.”

They said all these homes will make traffic even worse.

“The trouble we have now can just be magnified by another 800 cars,” said Kelvin Brown.

Residents want developers to listen and know they deserve a say about what happens in their community.

“Stop and think about integrating into the neighborhood cohesively.”

Alderman Kurtis Purtee said he’s also opposed 400 homes going there because of the infrastructure and roadway.

He also said their needs to be more community engagement meetings before this goes through.

The public can attend a hearing from The Metropolitan Planning Commission next week, on July 26th.

Then, it will go before Savannah’s city council for a vote.

Copyright 2022 WTOC. All rights reserved.