Statesboro’s City Council voted Wednesday to let Club Zone open despite concerns and protestations about the apparent lack of on-site parking at the club. Owners hope to open the large sports bar/nightclub at 201 Johnson Street near the intersection of Johnson and West Main streets.
At its last meeting, the council charged City Manager Shane Haynes with investigating the ordinances that apply to the club, specifically the parking requirements. His research revealed that current building, zoning and alcohol ordinances only require Club Zone to provide one space for every four seats in the restaurant plus one space for every two employees.
With 70 seats and 15 employees, the ordinances require Club Zone to provide 25 on-site parking spaces. The club’s site plan shows a total of 35 parking spots with five parking spaces in front of the building and an additional 30 spaces in the rear. The maximum occupancy of the building is 713, a number determined using alcohol ordinance guidelines.
“One of the issues we are faced with in this matter is because our parking standard is based on restaurants, there was really nothing to deal with the open space or the assembly area within this building,” Haynes said.
The dance area in Club Zone is nearly 8,800 square feet.
During the meeting, Mayor Bill Hatcher expressed concern over the disparity between the number of seats and the total occupancy.
“It’s hard for me to understand how a 70 seat restaurant can have an occupancy of 713 people,” Hatcher said.
Statesboro Police Chief Stan York reported to the council at the request of the city manager. He said there are safety concerns because traffic control is limited to a single stop sign, there are no marked crosswalks and vehicular traffic is already heavy throughout the day and into the evenings.
Councilman Joe Brannen asked during the discussion why the council hadn’t looked at the ordinances before beginning the business and alcohol license processes. That way, Brannen said, the council could have given Club Zone owners better advice and possibly prevented all the confusion.
Club Zone manager Alfonzo Hall spoke on behalf of the restaurant owners. He said they have complied with all the requests the city has made to the owners, including engineering, parking and fire suppression. He also said the council has not considered all the people who live in the neighborhood that may not use cars to frequent the establishment.
“Some of our patrons might not even have cars to drive. Some of our patrons might walk from Sugar Hill. Some of our patrons might ride bicycles. Some of our patrons might arrive in limousines,” Hall said. “There is an oversight…when there are people walking, but we don’t see those people. Those people are invisible.”
Councilman Will Britt countered Hall’s argument about walk-up traffic. He said former city manager George Wood told him “point blank” that walking traffic could not be counted.
“Georgia Southern University has 16,000 people and more than one establishment has said we should allow walking traffic to count,” Britt said. “When you operate next to a dorm that has 2,000 people and you can’t count walking traffic, you can’t count walking traffic.”
After additional discussion, Councilman Tommy Blitch moved to allow the club to open under the current ordinance requirements.
“It’s a tough situation to call and I understand that,” Blitch said. “They haven’t violated anything yet, so there’s no reason not to let them open.”
The motion passed 4-1, with Britt being the only dissenting vote.
Though Club Zone has received conditional approval for its alcohol license, owners will still have to satisfy those conditions — including getting their business license and certificate of occupancy — before they will be able to open for business.
At its last meeting, the council charged City Manager Shane Haynes with investigating the ordinances that apply to the club, specifically the parking requirements. His research revealed that current building, zoning and alcohol ordinances only require Club Zone to provide one space for every four seats in the restaurant plus one space for every two employees.
With 70 seats and 15 employees, the ordinances require Club Zone to provide 25 on-site parking spaces. The club’s site plan shows a total of 35 parking spots with five parking spaces in front of the building and an additional 30 spaces in the rear. The maximum occupancy of the building is 713, a number determined using alcohol ordinance guidelines.
“One of the issues we are faced with in this matter is because our parking standard is based on restaurants, there was really nothing to deal with the open space or the assembly area within this building,” Haynes said.
The dance area in Club Zone is nearly 8,800 square feet.
During the meeting, Mayor Bill Hatcher expressed concern over the disparity between the number of seats and the total occupancy.
“It’s hard for me to understand how a 70 seat restaurant can have an occupancy of 713 people,” Hatcher said.
Statesboro Police Chief Stan York reported to the council at the request of the city manager. He said there are safety concerns because traffic control is limited to a single stop sign, there are no marked crosswalks and vehicular traffic is already heavy throughout the day and into the evenings.
Councilman Joe Brannen asked during the discussion why the council hadn’t looked at the ordinances before beginning the business and alcohol license processes. That way, Brannen said, the council could have given Club Zone owners better advice and possibly prevented all the confusion.
Club Zone manager Alfonzo Hall spoke on behalf of the restaurant owners. He said they have complied with all the requests the city has made to the owners, including engineering, parking and fire suppression. He also said the council has not considered all the people who live in the neighborhood that may not use cars to frequent the establishment.
“Some of our patrons might not even have cars to drive. Some of our patrons might walk from Sugar Hill. Some of our patrons might ride bicycles. Some of our patrons might arrive in limousines,” Hall said. “There is an oversight…when there are people walking, but we don’t see those people. Those people are invisible.”
Councilman Will Britt countered Hall’s argument about walk-up traffic. He said former city manager George Wood told him “point blank” that walking traffic could not be counted.
“Georgia Southern University has 16,000 people and more than one establishment has said we should allow walking traffic to count,” Britt said. “When you operate next to a dorm that has 2,000 people and you can’t count walking traffic, you can’t count walking traffic.”
After additional discussion, Councilman Tommy Blitch moved to allow the club to open under the current ordinance requirements.
“It’s a tough situation to call and I understand that,” Blitch said. “They haven’t violated anything yet, so there’s no reason not to let them open.”
The motion passed 4-1, with Britt being the only dissenting vote.
Though Club Zone has received conditional approval for its alcohol license, owners will still have to satisfy those conditions — including getting their business license and certificate of occupancy — before they will be able to open for business.