On Monday, April 8, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed into law Senate Bill 443, the legislation aimed at holding promoters responsible for monetary damages incurred by municipalities during unpermitted events. Kemp’s signing of the bill means SB 443 becomes law immediately, just ahead of Orange Crush, the annual HBCU beach bash which sparked the bill’s creation, set for April 19-21, 2024 on Tybee Island.

Connect Savannah has previously reported on SB 443 and its impact on promoters of unpermitted events scheduled for Tybee and surrounding areas over Orange Crush weekend. In 2023, 111,100 people went to Tybee over three days of Orange Crush, according to Placer.ai tracking data.

Tybee officials say they spent $187,520 on policing Orange Crush last year (April 21-23). SB 443 was introduced by Senator Benjamin Watson (R-Savannah).
“I appreciate Governor Kemp’s support in signing Senate Bill 443 into law,” said Sen. Watson on Monday. “Governor Kemp understands the importance of avoiding situations where promoters bypass local permitting processes and leave citizens with the costs of responding and cleaning up from unpermitted events.”

The bill (seen below) says it applies “to any event hosted by a promoter or organizer that is not properly permitted by the appropriate local governing authority that results in a public nuisance that impedes travel by police, fire service, emergency medical services personnel, other public safety personnel, or employees or officials of local, state, or federal governments acting in their official capacities.”

It passed through the state senate by a vote of 47-1 on Feb. 15. Senator Derek Mallow (D-Savannah) was one of the “yay” votes that day. The lone “nay” vote came from Senator Colton Moore (R-Trenton).

“The folks of Savannah are having problems,” Moore wrote in an emailed statement to Connect Savannah when asked for his reasons for voting no. “This bill incentivizes governments to issue permits. Northwest Georgia citizens don’t ask permission to host events.”

Once it moved from the senate to the house, SB 443 quickly went to the house floor for a vote.

On March 5, it was passed through the house by a tally of 163-4.

State Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) was one of 163 “yay” votes in the House for SB 443. Each of the other four Savannah representatives (Carl Gilliard, Edna Jackson, Ron Stephens, Anne Allen Westbrook) voted yes on the bill as well.

The four “nay” votes in the house were cast by Charlise Byrd (R-Woodstock), Mitchell Horner (R-Ringgold), Tanya F. Miller (D-Atlanta) and Angela Moore (D-Stonecrest).

“This commonsense legislation will give promoters an incentive to work with municipalities to get legal permits to host events,” said Petrea. “Any promoters of unpermitted events need to understand that they are on the hook to pay for any costs associated with problem events they create.”

Tybee’s Mayor, Brian West, has stated repeatedly his hopes that Orange Crush will move permanently away from the three-mile island.

“We welcome visitors and events to visit the great city of Tybee Island, and appreciate the support of Senator Ben Watson, Rep. Petrea, the legislature and Governor Kemp in providing this legal tool for Tybee to address the high costs of responding to promoter-generated events that don’t go through the permitting process,” said West.

“We hope that we won’t have to use this law, but know that it is a tool we will use when promoters of unpermitted events stress our public safety resources and prove to be a financial burden on our taxpayers.”

This article appears in Connect Savannah I April 2024.