Introduced at the Savannah Chamber’s SMART Luncheon Tuesday, the city of Savannah’s new business approval coordinator had one important request of the business owners and would-be business owners in the audience.
“If you are planning to start a business or looking to relocate your business anywhere in the city, please come talk to me first,” said Aislee Jackson. “It could save you a lot of frustration and sometimes even money.”
Jackson’s new position, created late last year, is designed to help business owners through the business approval process. That includes confirming that the zoning and physical layout of the building and site they are looking at are appropriate for the intended use.
“We are your first stop before you do anything else,” he said. “We’ve seen lots of people who have signed leases only to come through our process and learn the property is not zoned for the type of business they want to open.
“That can be an expensive mistake, one we’d like to help you avoid.”
Cristy Lawrence, the city’s development services liaison, said Jackson’s position was created to provide increased customer service to businesses going through the business approval process.
The Development Services department issues permits and provides inspection services for construction within the city limits. It also assists developers, consultants, business owners and builders with commercial, industrial or residential projects and enforces zoning regulations, building codes and city ordinances.
“We’ve made a lot of improvement to our processes, most of them coming as a result of feedback from the mayor’s business roundtable,” Lawrence said.
“We recently developed a business approval brochure and flow chart to help businesses understand the process, so these are new resources that are available to the business community,” she said. “We also revamped the business approval application to make it easier to use.
“With Aislee on board, it will be even smoother.”
The business approval process is designed to make sure the proposed use is allowed in the property’s zoning district and that the structure meets all applicable building and fire codes, Jackson said, adding that the typical business approval takes from two to seven business days.
If a building permit is required, it may take another 30 days. A site development permit usually takes 60 days.
Once a business owner completes the business approval process, he or she submits a new business tax return form, along with payment and any other documentation to the city’s revenue department to receive a business tax certificate — the city’s version of a business license.
The business approval brochure and application, as well as contacts for Jackson and Lawrence, are on a new website, www.savannahga.gov/businessapprovals.
The revamped and improved processes have come at a time when construction — both residential and commercial — is booming, Lawrence said.
“The total value of permitted construction within the city limits reached a pre-recession peak of $312 million in 2008, then plummeted to $171 million in 2009,” she said. “From there, it has grown steadily to reach a new record in 2013 of $342 million, 10 percent higher than the pre-recession peak.”
The city just missed setting another record in 2014, Lawrence said, when a $12 million permit was approved Dec. 31, but wasn’t picked up until after the first of the year, effectively moving it into 2015 stats.
BY THE NUMBERS
In 2014, the city of Savannah:
• permitted projects totaling over $334 million
• issued more than 1,600 building permits
• issued more than 4,400 trades permits
• completed more than 26,500 building & trade inspections
• completed more than 2,000 site inspections
• issued more than 90 site permits
• processed 67 survey plats
• processed more than 1,300 new business approvals