Rose Dhu Neighbors Join Forces

An idyllic spot on the Southside, Rose Dhu is a beautiful and quiet area off Coffee Bluff Road. Neighbors have banded together to keep it that way.
 
Rose Dhu Road winds along a bluff; to one side you see the marsh and the Vernon River, on the other, wide grassy, sometimes sandy lawns and homes that range from modest to majestic. Overhead the branches of live oaks make twisting sculptures against a gray sky. If not for the barely audible hum of traffic on Coffee Bluff Road, it would be easy to forget you are still in the City of Savannah.
 
Rose Dhu is home to the city’s newest neighborhood association, but it’s a little hard to imagine common community issues like crime and blight could reach way out here.
 
According to Southside Alderman Tony Thomas, neighborhoods like this one need to get organized before problems start. “That's exactly why they need a neighborhood association to protect what they have. You know, this is a very special setting and I'm a strong believer that strong communities start with strong neighborhoods.”
 
A recent attempt by a developer to replace one home with a full on development here alarmed neighbors enough to take action. “They wanted to put six houses I believe,” explains new neighborhood leader Mel Sykes, “they dropped it down to four finally.” He says it nonchalantly, not even hinting at the meetings and political pressure he and his neighbors brought to bear in order to get developers to change their plans.
 
For Sykes, Rose Dhu is reminiscent of his boyhood home on Isle of Hope, “I grew up on the river. I grew up as a kid skiing and crabbing and stuff like that.” He says he would hate to see his new home overdeveloped. It’s a fear shared by others here, especially when it comes to the Girl Scouts of America Camp at the end of the road.
 
The Girl Scouts own all of Rose Dhu Island; it is one of the last, large undeveloped pieces of waterfront property left in Savannah but Sykes says there is no guarantee it will stay that way, “The neighbors are really scared that it's going to be sold off.” There are no plans to do anything of the kind, but neighbors know how good they have it out here and they are willing to fight to keep it.

Rose Dhu neighbors and other groups from around Coffee Bluff will meet together Tuesday April 1 at 6:30 pm.  
Join Alderman Tony Thomas, City Manager Michael Brown and Police Chief Michael Berkow at the Crusader Park Community Center on Coffee Villa Road.