Bar fee backlash averted, controversial parking lot approved: City Council Wrap-up, Dec. 19

By Brian Myers

AS Savannah’s City Council met in its final session for 2024, a handful of agenda items garnered the ire of impacted community members from issues ranging from an announced fee increase for alcohol license holders to a proposed parking structure near Forsyth Park.

As Thursday’s meeting was the only one held in the month of December, Mayor Johnson and the Alderpersons came into the 2pm time slot with an agenda item that topped 50 entries. 

Council averts backlash from bar owners

After shifting listed items out of order and taking votes to unanimously approve various Airport Commission financial items and Purchasings requests from City departments, Mayor Johnson opened up the floor for the final public discussion on Savannah’s 2025 proposed Service Program and Budget.

Johnson made remarks that echoed his sentiments over the past several weeks, reiterating that this proposed budget was balanced and would be executed without drawing on the City’s reserves or from increasing the millage rate from its current place at 12.2 mills.

Johnson also discussed raising the minimum pay for municipal employees to $18 per hour, stating that “no city should pay poverty wages.”

Johnson turned the floor over to City Manager Jay Melder, who began to give an overview of the budget, which includes several proposed fee increases. This conjured quite a bit of controversy from local bar owners.

Melder says fees have held steady since 2018, drew concern from impacted business owners that the City should address.

The 40% increase was quite a leap from the 2024 budget, and bar owners weren’t being quiet about the news.

“We heard from those business owners and while they wouldn’t say that no increase was warranted that this increase was too high, " Melder said. “As a result of those conversations, I think we’ve been able to look back at our budget plan, look back at our revenue, and propose that Council make an adjustment on the dias as they adopt the revenue ordinance to adjust down those alcohol related fees by 50% less than those proposed.”

Melder said that looking forward, it’s critical for the City to hold conversations and have better communication with people that are directly impacted by any such increase.

This move by Melder put out a fire that had been stoked over the last week by more than just a handful of bar owners inside the community: The giant increase in these fees seemed to take the industry’s license holders by surprise.

It led to an outcry on social media as others chose to flood the inboxes of city staff and Council members.

Council chambers hosted many of those who would have been adversely impacted by the original fee increase, including Lone Wolf owner Tom Worley. Worley thanked the Council for their reconsideration and encouraged officials to be better at communicating with business owners in the future.

Worley spoke on the behalf of many of the others in the room when he pointed out that the jump from $1500/year to $2100/year was quite a shock, particularly when owners like himself were in the middle of figuring out their own budgets for the upcoming year all while trying to tie up loose ends for 2024.

Mayor Johnson agreed, and noted that City staff and Council “need to engage earlier and will.”

Fourth District Alderman Nick Palumbo spoke to how vital the budget creation and approval process is to the City, noting that “it’s the most important thing that we do. It outlines what we’re going to accomplish in the next year and the improvements that we want to make and the changes we want to see.”

Palumbo also spoke to how this proposed budget is the “least exciting” that he’s seen during his five years on the Council, a mark that shows just how efficient the budget process has become.

"We've been through budget of feast, we’ve been through budget of famine,” said Palumbo during Council comment.

“We’ve been through a couple where we talked about the possibility of privatizing services and what’s going to be cut next... but this is the first that I’ve ever seen that we’re not rightsizing a department that was cut during the great recession, we’re not fixing something in a see-saw moment that happened after the pandemic," Palumbo said. "These are honest, earnest, incremental improvements to each and every department that shows that the process is working.”

The Alderman continued by praising the hard work of the staff who not only did the hard work of assembling a working budget, but also used their skill sets to identify areas of improvement.

“One thing that often isn't highlighted is the inefficiencies that the team found on its own. I believe it totals more than $8M that the city’s working internally to find ways that we can save that physical capability and apply it to a much more needed area.”

Mayor Johnson concluded by stating that the budget “is a living document” and will be revisited for needed changes throughout the next fiscal year. After his remarks, Palumbo moved to adopt the 2025 Budget, which was passed unanimously.

Controversial zoning changes pass Council’s muster

A petition to rezone parcels of land in Aldermanic District II that had originally been scheduled for a November vote was finally brought to City Council for a hearing and a vote.

Parcels along East Henry and Drayton streets across from Forsyth Park have been requested for development into a parking structure. In order for this to be possible, Council must approve a change to the Future Land Use Map (FLUM), a Special Use Permit, and a zoning change.

City staff maintained that this redevelopment will work to address concerns of a lack of short-term parking in a neighborhood that is rapidly transitioning to incorporate more commercial traffic, while still maintaining the character of a residential neighborhood. 

The MPC had recommended approval against the concerns of some of the neighborhood residents who have been arguing for more infill housing. Council heard from various persons representing both sides of the issue, beginning with petitioner representative Robert McCorkle.

McCorkle raised the argument that the likelihood of any residential use of these lots is “extremely unlikely,” and that the use of these parcels were originally commercial.

“The entire block to the east is zoned commercial, the entire block diagonally across the street is commercial . . .” he stated, presenting facts from the staff report.

He also pointed out that there are a number of parcels used as parking lots in the neighborhood that are not legally zoned as such.

The petitioner’s proposal, according to McCorkle, will provide a legal and structured parking facility for the area and alleviate overcrowding of vehicles on unofficial lots as well as limiting the number of short-term parkers on the streets.

But McCorkle’s words didn’t go over well with the speakers that followed.

“The Savannah housing crisis is at 10,000 units,” one speaker stated, urging Council to vote down the petitioner’s request to turn these parcels into 40 parking spaces. Another speaker opined that a new parking structure “does nothing to protect our neighborhood.”

Jason Combs, who serves as the president of the Thomas Square Neighborhood Association, warned the Council of “Greeks bearing gifts,” a reference to the Trojan Horse tale. Equating the parking garage proposal to a surprise attack made possible by a crafty ruse, Combs outlined the concerns of many in attendance. And he didn’t hold back.

“I’m saying this process here is similar. It’s also a Trojan horse. And I would say beware of Jeffs bearing gifts, in this case Jeff Notrica [the applicant].”

Combs followed that barb with comments that might have struck a nerve with some of the Alderpersons, but are arguably relevant.

“He (Jeff) has given many gifts to the City Council. He has maxed out donations to seven out of nine members, and I think that is worth pointing out.”

Combs asserted that, should Council allow for the changes to the FLUM, it will inevitably lead to Notrica and McCorkle emerging from “a hatch in the parking lot” in two years and yelling “Surprise! We’re building a hotel.”

Combs went on to state that this application is a ruse and that a hotel development is “fully what we expect” and why he and others were requesting Council to set the issue aside until the Historic District Overlay (HDO) process that he and other neighborhood residents are pushing is completed.

This move would have delayed a vote on the application for the FLUM and zoning changes until at least the end of the first quarter 2025, at the end of an HDO that has been in the works for the prior 18 months.

“Please allow us that,” Combs concluded.

McCorkle refuted Combs’ claims, stating even if a hotel were in the cards (which he denies), he and the applicant would have to make a case in front of the MPC and Council for final approval. 

While Alderwoman Alicia Miller-Blakely praised the proposal for the addition of parking spaces, Alderman Palumbo asserted that Council should exercise caution.

District II Alderman Detric Leggett then moved to expedite the approval, making the first reading the second. He also added that there would be a prohibition on hotel development on the parcels in question for the first three years.

In the end, Council voted 7-2 to approve the application, with Aldermen Palumbo and Purtee dissenting. 

After the session, The Savannahian obtained a document that Notrica had submitted to the MPC where he had disclosed his campaign donations to candidates in June of 2023. That document showed that the applicant had maxed out donations ($3,300) to various candidates as well as to Mayor Johnson.

The YES votes in favor of Notrica’s requests aligned with the seven current members of Council that Notrica claimed he donated to. However, when examining the campaign disclosure forms for Alderwoman Bernetta Lanier, it was revealed that the District 1 representative did not list a single donation to her last campaign for office.

After another local news outlet reported that she had taken money from Notrica, the Alderwoman took to social media to refute that claim. 

While The Savannahian is not suggesting that the final 7-2 vote was influenced by campaign donations, the publication strives to give accurate reporting on assertions made by citizens that it quotes. Below is the campaign disclosure form that aligns with the statements Jason Combs made during Thursday’s meeting. 

Council presents its 2025 priorities for the Georgia Legislature

The items that Council will send to the statehouse for next year’s session cover a considerable amount of ground, including everything from local infrastructure improvements to crime reduction to affordable housing.

The extensive list loudly echoes many of the priorities from community surveys and are in line with Savannah’s strategic priorities. 

The legislation that city leaders will be advocating for include: 

• Support and advocate for local infrastructure investments to meet the growing service demands for our city and region, including support for the implementation of the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Coastal Empire Transportation Study.
• Allow municipalities to exempt development impact fees (DIF) for the construction of workforce and affordable housing to keep housing development costs low. 
• Support funding for Georgia's Childcare and Parent Services Program (CAPS).
• Expand the allowable uses of SPLOST funds to support the retention, improvement, construction, and development of affordable and workforce housing as defined by the local governments through loans and other financial mechanisms.
• Explore the state definition of ‘Blighted Property’ to improve the process for converting abandoned, blighted properties into new housing that aids in reducing crime and improves the conditions and quality of life in neighborhoods.
• Support Georgia’s position as a Home Rule State which allows local individuals to self-govern and determine which solutions best match the communities in which they live. 
• Support State efforts to help those experiencing homelessness that align with Savannah Chatham County Interagency Council on Homelessness’s Five-Year Strategic Plan to End Homelessness. 
• Support funding for a mixed-delivery childcare system including public, private and license-exempt programs. 
• Support expansion of Georgia’s Low-Income Tax Credit Program.
• Support Home Rule regulation of zoning, design standards, and short-term rentals. 
• Support efforts to remove sales taxes on feminine hygiene products.