Building Savannah: The latest developments about development

A VERY active meeting of the Metropolitan Planning Commission last week saw a controversial project for a corner of Forsyth Park – so massive that it’s officially described as “monumental” – make a major move forward.

In other business, the Inner City Night Shelter got approval for a substantial expansion to enhance its services for the homeless.

The so-called Forsyth Commons project set for the southwest corner at Park Avenue and Whitaker Street will feature three new multi-story office buildings towering over its neighbors, as well as a 300-space underground parking garage.

While the surrounding Victorian neighborhood is one of Savannah's most quaint and small-scale historic settings, this project – a partnership that includes some of Savannah’s wealthiest and most politically powerful individuals and companies – bears the official designation of “monumental” due to its massive size.

Reading from site documents, the MPC’s Edward Morrow told Commissioners that the project is set to be a “Structure of architectural significance that would be a gateway entrance to the Historic District… it is ‘monumental’ to its unique form and function.”

While primarily built for the financial benefit of its private-sector partners – the law firm Hunter Maclean, the investment firm Sterling Seacrest Pritchard, Dulany Industries, and Evans Construction – the taxpayers have a stake in the underground garage, which will eventually become City property when built and financed.

The specific request before the MPC was for yet another variance to the project, to allow height increases of 5 stories for one office building, and 4 stories for two others, in a neighborhood otherwise limited to 3 stories.

Morrow wasn’t subtle in pressuring Commissioners that they seemingly had a duty to vote in favor of the MPC staff’s recommendation, which had tweaked the developer’s request slightly, taking one story off of one of the proposed office buildings.

“The present petition is unique in that it involves the advancement of a governmental purpose,” Morrow said. “This came to us as a governmentally driven product. It’s not something that can be untangled. This has always been a package it is a public-private partnership.”

In asking for the variances, project partner Jeff Jepson said, “it’s been a challenge to navigate how we achieve the certain amount of density we need to make the project work.”

“I’m really struggling with the idea of the monumentality,” Commissioner Dwayne Stephens replied to Jepson.

“I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of the architecture being monumental itself. However, our ordnance says something different,” he said.

“You guys were here before and we made a significant upzone. And that significant upzoning… was with the idea and understanding that this was what would make the project successful,” Stephens said.  “I’m trying to navigate what you’re saying, and how we got from [that] significant upzoning to needing a little bit more.”

The public comment period, like every other comment period associated with this project, was overwhelmingly negative.

Resident Elizabeth Hollis told the MPC, “It’s a little difficult to embrace this height variance in addition to all the other variances that were already granted for this project.”

Resident Tom Picot said, “Why should there be a giant monument of five stories on this busy corner when everything else on this corner is much smaller? Three stories is as much as we have.”

“I’m going to have an office building full of people looking down into both of my bedrooms,” said resident Clara Gregg, who is also a plaintiff in an ongoing lawsuit against the project.

In the end, as is often the case at the MPC, the public went away disappointed.

Local attorney and preservationist Andrew Jones informed the MPC of Gregg’s lawsuit, which contends that sizable political contributions by all the major partners in Forsyth Commons to nearly all Savannah City Council alderpersons were illegally concealed.

The lawsuit contends that the litigation essentially freezes the rezoning process, therefore there is no basis for discussing any further variances for the developers.

“The application for these variances – the very applications you are looking at today – do not comply with the zoning procedures law, which requires disclosures of the agents and their agents of campaign contributions. That’s the law,” Jones said.

Jones said the contribution forms submitted to the MPC are incomplete and wondered why that would be the case.

“There’s no form for Jeff Jepson who gave thousands of dollars to City Council members. Also missing is a form for Hunter Maclean which also donated through its political action committee. And the disclosure form signed by Mr. Paddison omits the thousands of dollars of his own contributions,” Jones said. “Such concealment gives the appearance of a corrupt pay-to-play scheme.”

The lawsuit also contends that the official certification of the developer’s documentation is signed by someone other than the authorized agent.

“You may think this sounds really minor, but the bottom line is if you don’t follow the zoning procedures law what you do is void, period.”

However, the lead attorney for the developer, Josh Yellin, said the lawsuit “has no bearing on today’s variance action… This proceeding is completely unrelated to rezoning.”

In the end, a compromise agreement from MPC Commissioner Travis Coles carried the day.

The new height and mass specifications for the three office buildings of Forsyth Commons will be: Building 1 at 4 stories up to a maximum height of 57 feet; Building 2 to 5 stories up to a maximum height of 71 feet; and Building 3 at 3 stories up to 45 feet in height

The MPC vote was closer than most, however, at 6-4. The No votes: Chairperson Karen Jarrett, Dwayne Stephens, Michael Kaigler, and Amanda Wilson.

IN OTHER MPC business, a significant expansion of Inner City Night Shelter was approved with a special use permit.

The current shelter, on Arnold Street near Trustees Garden, has been in constant 24-hour operation since 1983, even as the neighborhood all around it has changed dramatically.

The expansion involves additional physical structures on two adjoining parcels.

"We have been doing very good work since 1983 but were somewhat limited in the services that we can provide because of space. COVID changed a lot of things," Inner City Executive Director Yvonne Prior told the MPC.

"Every inch in the building is being utilized for emergency shelter, so we haven’t been able to offer any additional services that we would like to offer," she said.

Those services would not only include additional and enhanced living space for the facility – which currently offers 68 beds – but classroom space for substance abuse, mental health, and employment counseling.

Prior said that at the last official count of homeless in Savannah, between 500-600 people were in some state of homelessness, either sheltered or unsheltered.

"Inner City served 494 of those, and that's with the limited space we have," she said.

Inner City serves an entirely unique and crucial role in local homeless advocacy because it's the only "low-barrier" shelter in the area. That means almost any unhoused people are accepted, even if they have severe substance abuse or mental health issues, or are currently on probation.

And yes, that includes registered sex offenders – a fact which led to a contentious exchange at the MPC meeting.

Commissioner Joseph Welch – probably the most politically right-leaning member of the MPC – pressed Prior on why and how sex offenders are dealt with at the facility.

Welch worried about the safety of the new population of SCAD students in recently built dorms in the neighborhood (despite the fact that SCAD and other developers knew there had already been a very active homeless shelter in the vicinity since the mid-1980s).

Prior said that "any sex offender that is there must be on active probation," meaning that any time they violate terms of probation they would immediately forfeit the right to stay in the Shelter.

She was frank that as part of its mission the Shelter turns almost no one away – "smokers, drinkers... people that have come out of jail... anybody that may be on probation."

She did say that the biggest issue with offenders are sex offenders: "That's the biggest issue that keeps probation on my speed dial."

This led to a brief but intense exchange between Welch and Prior.

"My concern is the apartments around the area, which beautify the area. The SCAD students," he said.

"Well, they're there now," Prior replied.

"To expand this, with more people like this, I'm concerned about the students... as we're trying to change that area, have y'all looked at other sites to build a new facility?" Welch pressed.

"Sure, we have," Prior replied. "I've been before y'all a couple of times. I’ve been trying since I've been Executive Director since 2013 to address Inner City to having someplace to go. We went from the Tybee Depot, we went from the place where the tiny houses are. That’s been my drive, is to find some place for Inner City to go. 'Not in my backyard' is what happens when you have sex offenders."

When Welch said the existing building is "pretty run-down as is," Prior quickly replied, "Apparently you haven't seen it – the City of Savannah just invested half a million dollars into that building."

She went on:

"Let me ask you a question: So you're saying that homeless people are second-class and they can't live in that area?"

And Welch said, "I didn't say that, I know homeless people, I've looked after homeless people. But I also don't understand, the City of Savannah, where we're trying to go in that area, my concern is the safety of the students."

Prior said that she is in direct contact with the leadership of the student apartments and has a good relationship with them.

"In the time that building has been constructed, we've not had any problems," Prior said. "For me not to sound terrible or anything – I don't take a whole bunch of foolishness from the homeless people. It's an adult shelter, so I expect them to act like adults."

The special use permit was approved in an 8-2 vote.