“In response to community interest,” Savannah City Council will allow an hour during Thursday’s City Council meeting for the public to offer comment on the Cruise Ship Feasibility Study being considered by City Council, says a City spokesperson.
The comment period will occur at the beginning of the next City Council meeting on Thursday, June 27 at 2 p.m. Those wishing to speak during the meeting must sign up at the meeting. The comment period will be limited to 3 minutes per person, with an overall time limit of one hour.
“Due to the time constraints, organizations are encouraged to select one individual to sign up to speak for their group,” the City says. “The Mayor encourages all interested parties to send their comments to her in advance of the meeting.”
She can be reached by email at ejackson@savannahga.gov or by FAX at 912-651-6805.
For more info contact the City of Savannah Public Information Office at 651-6410.
This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 2, 2013.
I am aware of disastrous consequences when a town the size of Savannah has taken on a cruise line docking facility and all of the related responsibilities and liabilitiies. The example I would give is Juneau, Alaska. I visited, talked with residents, environmentalists and business owners there two years ago. I see these as the main points of concern:
1. The City and its business have NOT profited from the venture. Cruise ship passengers have limited shore time, have meals on the ship paid for in advance and, of course, have no need for hotel accommodations once they land. It has been a total lose-lose situation for Juneau, as expressed through its residents and business owners.
2. The increased (very temporary) numbers of visitors (3-5 hours) has caused problems in their desire to have amenities right on and near the dock so they don’t have distances to walk while off their ship. This forced the building of a “false city” just two blocks from the City amenities of Juneau. Built were two streets lined with what appear from the front to be goldrush-era structures with false facades to look like a village. The buildings are cheaply made with beautiful fronts only. They sell either food or tourist-type items — many diamond stores, many oriental rug stores, a couple sit-down restaurants/saloons. The building of this Disney-esque fake town has taken business from the long-standing, family-owned businesses in Juneau. There is great resentment. The owners and/or managers of these new, artificial establishments have come into town – they are NOT residents.
3. Congestion along what had been the beautiful, pristine inner passage that leads visitors to Juneau has created nightmares in traffic on the water, docking issues and concern for the fragile environment of what is known as a wilderness region. It was not a pleasant view to see these many-storied floating towns lined up, blocking all views across the water to islands.
4. No one I spoke with could offer any positive effects of the Cruise line docking operation in Juneau, other than those receiving the docking fees and supplying fuel to the shipss.
Please consider the negative impacts on our beautiful City. We have just about reached saturation point, from my perspective, on what our little gem tucked deep in the Deep South in a unique environment with unique attraction and plan as a walking city. The delicate balance hangs perilously as we continue to permit growth in the form of more and more hotels and other construction that is taking the natural environment from us more by the day. We can’t be a City that wishes it had thought prudently about our future and that of our children and grandchildren. How tragic it would be if those who worked diligently to restore, renovate, rejuvenate our terribly run-down city of the mid-twentieth century would feel their efforts had been swept away by those interested in nothing more than unbridled growth and the desire to make money.