LISTEN: Six-month-long negotiations between a developer and two historic Jewish cemeteries resulted in restrictions to how a future hotel will be built. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.
The owners of two historic Jewish cemeteries in Savannah have come to an agreement with a developer to allow the construction of a hotel nearby, overcoming initial objections that the future Savannah Station Hotel would endanger the Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery and the Levi Sheftall Cemetery.
The cemeteries were established in the mid-1700s and serve as the resting place of some of Georgia's first Jewish residents, including Mordecai Sheftall, the highest-ranking Jewish officer in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
Negotiations between HOS Management, Congregation Mickve Israel and the Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery Trust took place over six months, resulting in an agreement that was announced at a Savannah City Council meeting on Thursday.
Attorney Andrew Berrien Jones, who represents the cemeteries' owners, said that HOS Management “has agreed to a number of covenants and restrictions that we believe will reasonably protect the historic, cultural and structural integrity” of the burial sites.
Among the terms agreed to by the developer of the five-story hotel include a courtyard buffer, historical plaques to educate hotel guests, no construction above two stories within 50 feet of the cemeteries and no balconies or rooftop terraces overlooking the cemeteries. The cemetery owners will also be allowed to monitor certain parts of the construction.
HOS Management also agreed to not use construction methods that vibrate the ground, such as pile-driving, and to cover the cost of any damage to the cemeteries caused by construction.
“I'm happy to say that things are very different, standing here today, than they were when we originally filed this application,” said attorney Robert McCorkle, who represents HOS Management, referring to a related zoning amendment he requested. “We've all worked very hard on this. We have gone through a lot of meetings. There has been a lot of push and pull.”
The zoning amendment, which pertained to a height easement in the downtown Historic District, was unanimously approved by City Council.
Speaking after the vote, Alderwoman Estella Shabazz commended the parties for negotiating the agreement, calling it “a very good model of how good government can happen, good business can happen and good development can take place,” adding that “everybody is winning with this particular project.”
