Commission implored to block hotel
Residents of the Summerville Park community implored the Rome City Commission Monday night to help them find a solution to stop a national hotel chain from building a location on the fringe of their neighborhood.
“We need more than your sympathy ... potential solutions must exist,” said Eric Mcdowell, president of the neighborhood association.
A developer is proposing a 52-room Sleep Inn hotel be constructed on two existing lots at the intersection of Charlton Street and Martha Berry Boulevard.
The Patton Partnership LLC of Richmond Hill, which owned the two lots for many years, sold them to Rushaya LLC for $215,000. Rushaya is represented by Tony Patel of Lyerly.
Commissioner Craig Mcdaniel hinted that the neighborhood organization may need to find someone with deep pockets to help purchase the property from Patel. Mcdaniel said that Patel had given him a number and that Mcdaniel had relayed that number to Mcdowell but did not feel comfortable repeating that figure in the public forum.
Mayor Bill Collins, a resident of the Summerville Park community, told scores of his neighbors who packed the commission chambers that this was a situation where he wished he had a magic wand to wave and make things happen differently.
“These guys have got our hands tied,” Collins said.
The Patel group sought a variance last month to eliminate the need for a sidewalk to serve the hotel but were turned down by the Board of Adjustments. Since the property has been zoned Community Commercial, and hotels are a permitted use in that zone, there appears to be little else the city can do.
“Until plans are reviewed we can’t say there are any more steps (the developers have to take),” City Manager Sammy Rich said.
One of the primary objections the neighborhood group has raised is the crime and drug problems that have been reported at
The city commission approved its tax levy of 27.536 mills for 2019, unchanged from the previous year. City Finance Director Sheree Shore, who is retiring at the end of the month, said the city tax digest, the value of property within the city, is up approximately 2.8% this year.
The tax rate includes 8.151 mills for operation of city government, 1.935 mills for city capital projects and 17.45 mills for the Rome City Schools.
City officials also got the audit report for 2018. Christopher Mckellar with Mauldin and Jenkins said the audit presented an unmodified, clean opinion of the city’s finances with no problems noted.
Commissioners recognized Balerie Byars and volunteers with the Stop the Violence group which is seeking to take back the streets in communities all across the city. Commissioner Milton Slack called the grassroots effort to draw attention to domestic and weapons-related violence as the best place to start.