Ellijay’s police chief asked city councilmembers for feedback about downtown businesses using city property for displays and dining as the council met Oct. 17.
The council had been strict about downtown businesses using outdoor spaces and sidewalks, but, after the pandemic started in 2020, allowances were made to let businessowners use more outdoor space, noted Chief Edward Lacey.
“We backed off a little bit, and it’s hard to tighten back up on that. We want to provide for safety without being heavy-handed,” Lacey said.
He gave a few examples of businesses encroaching onto the city area, including on the downtown boardwalk, some of which is city property.
“We’ve received complaints from people going through there that feel like they’re going through somebody’s restaurant or a bar to get to the businesses on the other side of the boardwalk,” Lacey said.
“We’ve been having conversations with the mayor, and I think it’s good for the public to hear, as well. We’re caught in the middle between those people who own businesses and keep kind of encroaching,” he added.
Lacey said the police department is looking for solutions so they can reign some of that encroachment in. If they do start asking merchants to move things off the sidewalks, the council will likely hear complaints, he noted.
“There’s the letter of the law, and there’s the strict end of the law. We want people to be able to make a living, but we also want people to enjoy the town without getting hurt and be able to have ADA access through our city-owned properties,” Lacey said.
Councilman Al Fuller asked about potential liability issues if someone is injured.
“Regardless of liability, we don’t want anybody to get hurt, but is there anything we have to worry about that would be a liability on us?” he said.
Lacey said he’s not an attorney and can’t give legal advice, but in his “unprofessional opinion” the city could be liable if someone was injured and “we’ve been placed on notice that there’s a problem, and they (didn’t) have free access.”
Councilwoman Katie Lancey asked if there’s been any accidents downtown due to the situations Lacey had described. “Just because someone feels uncomfortable walking through a situation, we don’t have to act just because they feel uncomfortable,” she said.
Lacey said there’s been no accidents, and action by the council was not required. He cited the recent increase in pedestrians and tourist traffic downtown as reason for bringing it to the council’s attention.
“The reason I’m bringing this up is we’ve got more pedestrians in town than I’ve ever seen. This brings about a lot of traffic management issues, pedestrian management issues and other issues,” he said.
In other news ...
- Councilmembers approved annexation of a convenience store and neighboring building and strip mall at 290 South Main Street into the city limits.
The Conoco station, strip mall and building that once housed True Value Hardware were previously in the county. No comments or opposition were heard during a public hearing for the annexation request, which preceded the council meeting.
- Councilmembers adopted a general fund budget of $2.44 million and a SPLOST budget of $375,000 for the 2023 fiscal year. They also approved setting the 2022 millage rate at 2.185.