IT’S GOOD that Savannah City Council is gearing down on a proposal to allow double-decker tour buses in the historic downtown.
It’s not that such vehicles, which are allowed in many other cities and seem popular with sightseers, should be prohibited here. Rather, this is a case of look before you leap — or, in this case, give operators a green light.
For some unexplained reason, Mayor Edna Jackson and City Council put the pedal to the metal on a request by business owners Steve Caplan and Tom O’Connor to let double-decker buses and its paying passengers tour the downtown.
But to do so, the city first had to change its tourism ordinance — a potential hot potato.
Let’s hope the mayor and council weren’t trying to sneak something through during a time of year when City Hall typically hits the holiday snooze button and most Savannahians aren’t paying attention.
That may be slick politics. But it’s not good government.
Mr. Caplan and Mr. O’Connor are represented by attorney Julie Wade, who also is an elected member of the Savannah-Chatham board of education. She explained that her clients wanted a speedy resolution. Otherwise, she said, the business likely wouldn’t get off the ground for several months.
That makes some sense, as time is money. She also added that city officials wouldn’t be making a rush to judgment, as her clients had “many meetings” with city staff and unidentified council members prior to Dec. 13, when the public first learned of the plan.
She may be right that the city’s bureaucracy was kept up to speed. But she’s wrong if she’s implying that the public had adequate time to digest the proposal and give its opinion.
Two weeks of public notice isn’t enough. As an elected official herself, Ms. Wade should be more sensitive to a proposal that she had to know was a hot-button issue.
Downtown residents have every reason to want to be in the loop. This proposal affects their neighborhoods. At the very least, they trusted that the mayor and council would follow the rules on ordinance changes.
It’s appalling that City Council initially bypassed this process, which calls for a review by an advisory committee. While this may extend the clock, it allows for public comment. That’s important. This process ends with an informed recommendation to City Council. Elected officials then have the final word.
Mayor Jackson said she and other council members were excited by the sightseeing buses and by the 20 jobs the company would create. That’s understandable. But it’s no reason to toss the rules out the window. That’s a betrayal of trust and tells the public that City Council doesn’t care what people think.
Fortunately, after some vocal opposition from downtown residents who worry about invasion of privacy (these large, open-air buses apparently make it easy for sightseers to peep into parlors and bedrooms and over garden walls), the council is putting this proposal through its normal review process — something it should have done in the first place.
One question that must be addressed is potential damage from these double-decker buses to the downtown tree canopy, an important public asset.
What does the city’s Park and Tree Commission, which tends to the city’s squares, have to say? One local tour guide, Artis Wood, said half of the existing tour buses on which she rides hit tree limbs. If that’s true, what, if anything, is the city doing about it? Is more tree chopping in the works?
Savannah seems in no danger of losing its popularity among tourists, especially day-trippers. About 12 million people visit annually. The downtown already has more than 100 tour vehicles in its Historic District, with more than 1,400 motor coaches in more commercial areas. Whether the double-decker buses are likely to add or reduce congestion is unclear.
As the council plays by the rules, it must support the concepts of competition and free enterprise. At the same time, downtown residents who expect complete privacy in all cases must be realistic — the Historic District is not a gated community.
Meanwhile, there’s an important lesson here for elected officials — take time to engage the public.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions that I have now,” the mayor said. It’s good to see that the process, if belatedly, is apparently working.