City Talk: To-go cup expansion should be limited to Bull Street corridor

This is the City Talk column by Bill Dawers, a longtime contributor to the Savannah Morning News.

The City of Savannah is accepting public comments on a draft ordinance to expand the to-go cup zone south along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to Victory Drive and then east to Waters Avenue.

The expanded zone would include portions of downtown that are south of Jones Street in addition to the Victorian, Thomas Square, Eastside, Midtown and Baldwin Park neighborhoods.

Second district alderman Detric Leggett, who handily won reelection to a second term that began in January, requested in November that city staff begin working on an expansion and has already signaled his support.

"All of our bars, our partners on the Bull Street and MLK corridor, all of those people are going to be affected by it, and we are going to be supporting it," Leggett said, although at the time it appeared that the proposal would only extend to East Broad Street.

More: City planning proposed to-go cup zone expansion, will seek public input in "near future"

I assume that city officials will back off the idea of an expansion all the way to Waters, but the draft ordinance and the public comment form are still up as I write this column.

In 2019 and 2020, city officials piloted a smaller scale expansion that included much of the Bull Street corridor south to Victory Drive. The pilot seemed broadly successful, despite some obvious problems.

The boundaries were confusing and not well advertised. The pandemic prevented a full assessment of the impacts. Several businesses were never officially informed when the pilot ended and continued to serve drinks to go.

In a recent survey about the expansion of an overlay district that would likely restrict hotel development, a significant number of residents of the Thomas Square and Victorian neighborhoods supported some sort of expansion of the to-go cup zone, but fewer than half supported a full expansion.

It’s puzzling that city officials drafted such a sweeping change with so little public discussion. The process feels a little like the meetings regarding the future of the Civic Center, with leaders seeking public comment only after making up their minds about the major policy questions.

More: Civic Center public comment period kicks off with stakeholder meetings

As a resident of the Bull Street corridor south of Forsyth Park, I support an expansion because of the benefits to small businesses and to quality of life. Despite its flaws, the pilot showed a partial expansion would have minimal negative impacts.

A full expansion is another matter, however. Noise and litter could be problems in some areas, and there are concerns the expanded zone could especially impact residents who live near short-term vacation rentals.

There will also presumably be some residents who will object to any proposal that makes alcohol consumption more visible.

It’s also worth noting that the draft treats important streets as dividing lines rather than commercial corridors. So businesses and residents on the east side of MLK would be within the expanded zone, while folks on the west side would be excluded.

A similar division would be cemented along Waters Avenue, if the push to extend the zone that far continues. The new boundaries would be less jarring along Victory Drive since the south side is so heavily residential and since the street itself is already a prominent barrier.

The most logical move at this point would be for city officials to craft an extension that looks a lot like the 2020 pilot.

The new map could include all of Forsyth Park and any commercial properties that face the park. The zone could then extend down the Bull Street corridor to Victory Drive and include the city block that is now home to Starland Yard and Two Tides Brewing Co.

I would support a broader expansion, but unless a clear majority of residents are on board, the best course would be to follow the precedents of the pilot.

Bill Dawers can be reached via @billdawers on Twitter and CityTalkSavannah@gmail.com .

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: City Talk: To-go cup expansion should be limited to Bull Street corridor