You might be able to take your beer a little farther south on St. Patrick's Day this year as the City of Savannah looks to expand the to-go cup zone. The expanded festival area would stretch east to the Truman Parkway, west to the Talmadge Memorial Bridge, south to Victory Drive and north to the Savannah River.
The expansion is one of three recommendations that were presented to council during Thursday's workshop as the city looks to reimagine the annual celebration in 2022. The proposed changes were first announced on Jan. 27 by Mayor Van Johnson.
Council is expected to vote on the recommendations during the Feb. 24 meeting.
City staff is also recommending the suspension of the issuance of alcohol and entertainment permits within the to-go cup zone and the suspension of parking permits for out-of-town motorcoaches.
Susan Broker, director of the Office of Special Events, Film and Tourism, told council that the suspension of the entertainment permits aims to lessen congestion in the streets and make it easier for people, including first-responders, to move in the crowd.
The move could also provide more opportunities for local bars and restaurants by eliminating competition between on-street vendors and brick-and-mortar establishments. Local food trucks would be permitted.
“We think that by eliminating the entertainment on the public right away that it will allow our bars and restaurants to schedule their own entertainment for their patrons," she said.
City staff and numerous other stakeholders including the Savannah Police and Fire departments, Savannah Downtown Business Association, Greater Savannah Black Chamber of Commerce and tourism officials helped to craft the recommendations.
The group has been in discussions since last year and Broker said they tried to assess the event from every angle with two goals in mind.
“One was to review the past practices and behaviors and discern what it is that we want to change. And then secondly, ensure that our recommendations from the committee to city manager and ultimately to council would yield the desired result,” she said.
“We’re in year one of modifications, this is the first time we’ve ever really tried to do this. So we know that over the next couple of years there’s going to be a big learning curve.”
One element that won't be changing this year is the control zone along River Street and a portion of downtown, which the Savannah Police Department has requested stay in place. The control zone would prohibit weapons, coolers, bikes, skates, various fireworks, exotic animals and pets, with the exception of service animals.
“This controls (those items) and allows SPD to have a little bit tighter rein over this activity,” Broker said.
Concerns and questions raised by council on Thursday ranged from ensuring adequate police coverage in the expanded to-go cup zone, quality of life for residents, local business participation and possible increases in driving under the influence and other alcohol-related crimes.
"I think this is the absolute worst time to extend (the to-go cup zone) and test it. A better time to extend it and test it would be outside of St. Patrick’s Day where we have more of a litmus test of what this means to our locals as opposed to the thousands of people who will be visiting here,” Alderwoman Kesha Gibson-Carter said, adding concerns about SPD’s capacity to manage the extended zone due to officer shortages.
Savannah City Manager Jay Melder told council that the Savannah Police Department was there every step of the way as the recommendations were crafted.
“Certainly, from my perspective, we wouldn’t be recommending any changes to the (festival) ordinance that we didn’t feel like we could effectively enforce or manage,” Melder said.
Inclusionary zoning update
Also during Thursday's workshop, council received a brief update on the city’s efforts in creating an inclusionary zoning ordinance. Inclusionary zoning is a land use tool that requires a certain percentage of units in new developments be sold at low or below market rates to the community.
There are about 500 communities across the country that use inclusionary zoning, including the City of Atlanta and City of Decatur, according to Bridget Lidy, senior director, Planning, Zoning and Urban Design.
Developers who don’t want to provide affordable housing within the development they’re working on would be able to opt out, but would have to pay a fee.
“If they do opt out, they have to pay into what's called an in-lieu fee in order to provide an opportunity for funds to go into other affordable housing within the community,” Lidy said.
Credit: Katie Nussbaum
Credit: Katie Nussbaum
“In addition to that, communities who have inclusionary zoning programs provide more incentives for developers to make it more enticing for them to come and do the affordable housing by reducing parking requirements, by allowing bonus stories, etc. for that particular development.”
Lidy also outlined five key points that the Center for Housing Policy recognizes when it comes to successful inclusionary zoning programs: a strong housing market; a recommendation that the program be mandatory, not voluntary; incentives for developers; clear program guidelines; and flexibility with compliance options.
The city is currently in the process of researching best practices and aims to conduct an inclusionary zoning economic assessment by May 1. The next step will be a robust community engagement process from May to September.
The city will then work on crafting the ordinance, which will go to the Metropolitan Planning Commission and then to council by Nov. 1.
“It is an aggressive timeline,” she said.
“But we're confident in our relationships with Atlanta and Decatur, as well as working with our legal staff here that we'll be able to engage the community and come up with something that will be of value and will be one of many tools in our tool chest to help with the affordable housing crisis that we have.”
Melder compared an inclusionary zoning ordinance to a retirement or savings account for affordable housing in the city.
“We're still going to need to invest in other tools. We're going to continue to invest in the Affordable Housing Fund to produce new ones, but this is a retirement account, essentially, “ he said.
“If you think about it, where if we put it in place, those units will come online and build and build year after year.”
Katie Nussbaum is the city and county government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. Contact her at knussbaum@savannahnow.com. Twitter: KnussSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: City Hall notebook: Savannah Council hears details on St. Patrick's Day, inclusionary zoning
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