PROPERTY MATTERS: Does size matter? Neighborhood leaders seeking input on allowing small, “boutique” hotels south of downtown

The Thomas Square Neighborhood Association, in partnership with the Cuyler-Brownville and Victorian neighborhood associations, is seeking more community feedback as part of an effort to further restrict hotel development in the communities.

The neighborhood association recently posted a new online survey after an unsuccessful attempt last year to prohibit hotel development throughout the three communities by extending Savannah’s Hotel Development Overlay District, which currently only regulates the size and location of hotels downtown.

While neighborhood leaders reported support from residents for the extension, the Metropolitan Planning Commission postponed consideration of the change to get more input.

The delayed vote followed objections from the Savannah Downtown Business Association, Savannah Economic Development Authority Tourism Leadership Council and the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, which submitted a joint letter opposing the petitions due to what they said was a lack of stakeholder involvement.

Since then, neighborhood residents and business owners have been working on the proposal with representatives from the various organizations that raised objections.

The neighborhood associations are now proposing the addition of a new “Small” or “Boutique” class of hotels, which would allow up to a maximum of 40 rooms in certain sections of their communities, as a “good-faith compromise,” according to Thomas Square Streetcar Neighborhood President Jason Combs.

“The hotel representatives said they weren’t interested in anything less than 40 rooms,” Combs said.

The new survey is meant to gauge support for the proposed new hotel classification and to explore further options for the overlay extension based on the working group’s recommendations.

The survey notes that no hotels meeting the definition are currently proposed in the subject areas and there are no existing examples within downtown or the petitioning neighborhoods. As a real-world example of a 40-room hotel, the survey includes renderings based on the Collegiate Hotel in Auburn, Ala. placed in possible locations within each corridor option.

Combs said the survey is available through February for anyone to fill out, although a greater weight will be placed on responses from residents and businesses located within the actual communities. It is unclear when the MPC will again take up the matter.

“I think everyone’s wanting to see what the results of this survey are,” Combs said. “So we’ll have to wait and collate the information and see what’s going on.”

Tourism Leadership Council (TLC) President and CEO Michael Owens said the industry advocacy organization supports the idea of “fleshing out’ the new small hotel classification, with the understanding it would only be applied to the three proposed neighborhoods. It is inappropriate to prohibit all lodging in some of those areas, but the TLC agrees that large-scale hotels are probably too big for those communities, Owens said.

“I think the most important thing here is that we as a community continue to have control over what that product looks like and whether or not it fits into the neighborhood,” he said. “That’s something that needs to continue.”

The survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W8FJFQJ. (It also includes an unrelated question about potentially expanding the “to-go-cup zone”.)