Originally published in Savannah Now
The City of Springfield has created a Downtown Development Authority to oversee revitalization of properties on Laurel Street.
City Manager Brett Bennett said council members were looking for a way to influence what happens at the former Walt’s furniture building, which the city purchased for $115,000 last May.
Council members have said they would like to see the building’s appearance improved and they’d like to see activity and jobs there.
But if the city sold the building, it would have to surplus the property and then take the highest bid, with no say over what would happen there.
Now, the city can give the building to the DDA, which can then negotiate a deal with a specific buyer and can include clauses that would require a certain use or a certain number of jobs to be created.
“It’s just like the IDA (Effingham County Industrial Development Authority) only on a much, much, much smaller scale,” Bennett said.
Bennett said some potential buyers had said they wanted to use the building for storage, and that’s a use the council would rather avoid.
Council members would rather see offices or retail space, possibly even a restaurant in the 25,000-square-foot building at 405 N. Laurel St.
Bennett said the authority will not be able to levy taxes; its only assets will come from the city council.
The council outlined the geographic area that the authority will cover — properties that touch Laurel Street and surround Ulmer Park and the Oak Street residential office district.
Council members voted unanimously at their March 8 meeting to create the authority.
Members of the DDA’s board can either live in the city or operate a business in the city and live in Effingham County.
They will have staggered two, four and six-year terms. Appointed to the board were: council member Steve Shealy; Lonnie Pate, owner of First Self Storage; Dee Bankston, broker-owner of Southern Georgia Homes Real Estate; Rick Rafter, lawyer; David Sharp, owner of Springfield Music and Arts Center; Van Horton, owner of Horton’s Quality Meats; and Mitchell Weitman, pharmacist.
Bennett said the DDA members will adopt bylaws, including deciding when they will meet.
The DDA will have some help from the city’s new community development director – Erin Rahn Phillips.
Phillips was research and market analyst and then a project manager at the Effingham County IDA.
She has a degree in architecture and has helped Springfield on a volunteer basis for years, including getting students from her alma mater, the Savannah College of Art and Design, to design a master plan for downtown, create plans for revitalizing City Hall and study the city’s historic buildings.
“She’s a very good fit for many of the things we have going on,” Bennett said.
Phillips said she will be working as zoning administrator and city planner, “with some community enrichment and basic economic development mixed in.
“I’ll be doing things like re-evaluating our existing zoning and possibly rewriting a few sections, creating a new city plan that outlines our goals for future growth, creating different city districts and setting the ordinances for them, planning downtown events – working to capitalize on the Mars Theatre, code enforcement and some business recruitment as well,” she said.
“In addition, I’ll be heading up other city projects as they come along,” Phillips said. “There are plans for more park space in Springfield and also utilizing the Ebenezer Creek and Salzburger history to offer more recreational opportunities.”
Originally published on March 15, 2016.
Originally published in Savannah Now