Article 25

March 31, 2006

First, let me say that I did attend the Bacon Park Neighborhood meeting last Tuesday evening. Three groups were represented: The Paces Foundation (the developer), the City Council members and Michael Brown, and about 150 homeowners from several neighborhood associations.

I believe that all sides in this argument believe that their side is right. Unfortunately, if you live in the area under discussion, the issue is more than a debate; it is the protection of your children, family, privacy, property value and, the most important impact of all, your safety!

The City and Paces planned to build a 96 unit high-rise complex in a single-family residence neighborhood. They have already approved 235 housing that is now built and populated. This development is completely unsuitable to the environment, yet it is being pushed by the Mayor and City Council so that they can meet their goals of providing affordable housing. They believe in helping the poor as long as it is not in their backyard. It was pretty apparent that City Council believes that they already have the 5 votes they need to do the deed, so whatever the taxpayers want is of no concern to them. They are actively and consciously going to bring crime into a stable middle class neighborhood. Congratulations to Jeff Felser and Ellis Cook who confirmed at the meeting that they were voting against the project.

The Paces Foundation, an Atlanta company, advised that their management company is also based in Atlanta. They have a non-profit company that is somehow not non-profit but for profit. The land is owned by an LLC but nobody knew or would admit to who owned the land. I believe that it is city and/or county land. So lets review this picture: we have out-of-town owners, out-of-town managers and long term local tax payers, and City Council and Mr. Brown want to railroad them so that politically they can say they built low cost housing. It does not seem possible in America that elected officials and employees who work for them can so disrespect the voters.

My problem with this is that instead of helping an out-of-control crime problem in Savannah, they are throwing up this smoke screen of doing good when in reality all they are doing is destroying a long time Savannah neighborhood.

This could be your neighborhood! This 96 unit high rise could be your next-door neighbor.

Many of our members are from the Bacon Park Community and I thought it appropriate that I bring this matter to all of our members. While my sympathy lies with the people, others may feel differently. Please email us your comments for and against the project.

Don’t forget we are looking for new members so that this won’t happen in our neighborhood. Please send your email to martinsullivan@saveoursavannah.com. You will automatically be added to our electronic database. KEEP UP WITH CRIME IN SAVANNAH – JOIN SOS.

Regards,

Martin