New survey checks out concerns about development of hotels

The ongoing civic discussion about tourism has taken an interesting turn with a new survey gauging residents’ thoughts on the appropriateness of small hotels in neighborhoods immediately south of downtown.

The survey, to which anyone can respond, is a follow-up to last year’s community-driven proposal to extend the hotel development overlay to the Cuyler-Brownville, Thomas Square and Victorian neighborhoods. The extension would in effect ban new hotels in those areas, although there would be a path forward for individual developers.

Despite overwhelming support from residents, the overlay extension was delayed. The City of Savannah and the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC), as well as business groups and the Historic Savannah Foundation, wanted more input from the general public and various stakeholders. Hence the new survey, which considers the parameters for potential “boutique hotels” with 40 or fewer rooms.

As regular readers might know, I have lived in the Bull Street corridor in Thomas Square since the mid-1990s. I have advocated for many years for increased residential density – for seizing opportunities for larger-scale development where it would enhance and not disrupt the traditional mixed-use development.

In theory, I support the idea of small hotels in the neighborhood, with several clear conditions.

For starters, the city and the MPC need to stop approving the combination of historically small lots into larger ones. This would be a simple step toward protecting the character of historic neighborhoods.

So, in the fantasy zoning ordinance in my head, small hotels would only be allowed on lots that are already big enough to accommodate them and do not have any historic structures.

Any new hotels should also mesh with the prevailing scale of the block. The survey has a purely illustrative example of a small hotel on Duffy Street, but it would be out of scale with the adjacent residential development. No hotel there.

But if the site of the old Sears building at Henry and Bull streets is ever redeveloped, it seems sensible for a small hotel to be part of the mix, along with residential units, retail spaces on Bull and the reestablishment of East Duffy Lane.

Or imagine the future if the large telecommunications building bounded by Bull, Anderson, Drayton and Henry streets becomes obsolete. Reestablish the lane. Devote most of the site to relatively dense residential development. Allow a small hotel with a street-level restaurant and bar along Bull.

I should note that my proposal could open the door for small hotels on sites that have gotten caught up in the long-delayed Starland Village. But the neighborhood largely supported that development with its many complications because of the residential emphasis. It would never have been approved as a hotel development, and it should not be approved for that use now.

Do I trust the city and the MPC to craft a nuanced policy and then actually enforce it without making exception after exception?

No, I do not.

Over the past four years, Savannah City Council has not adequately addressed resident concerns about the growth in tourism and the proliferation of hotels. Sure, it was a tough four years, including a pandemic, a lengthy city manager search and extreme tensions.

Beginning this year, the administration headed by Mayor Van Johnson and City Manager Jay Melder will likely be judged on the basis of two overwhelming concerns: the lack of affordable housing and the need for more effective tourism management.

I don’t have any inside knowledge on the survey results, but I assume many respondents are taking much harder stands against new hotels than I am taking in this column.

City officials should listen to those concerns and adopt the overlay that was proposed last year.

Then they should take the additional step of putting a moratorium on the permitting of new downtown hotels until they have had time to consider policies that would address the growing chorus of complaints about the direction of the city.

Bill Dawers, a longtime contributor to the Savannah Morning News, can be reached via @billdawers on Twitter and CityTalkSavannah@gmail.com.