Rep. Jesse Petrea and Sen. Ben Watson Announce Legislative Tools for Tybee Island

State Representative Jesse Petrea and State Senator Ben Watson announced the introduction of legislation aimed at giving the City of Tybee Island and any other local government the ability to hold promoters of unpermitted events accountable for any costs resulting from the events.

Both Senate Bill 443, sponsored by Senators Watson, Derek Mallow (D-Savannah) and others and House Bill 1079, sponsored by Rep. Petrea and Reps. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) and Bill Hitchens (R-Rincon), would allow a local government to sue promoters or organizers of unpermitted events which result in a public nuisance that impedes travel by police, fire, emergency medical services or other government employees acting in their official capacities. Local governments would be able to recover on behalf of the public costs associated with public safety, traffic control and sanitation services.

“It is common sense that promoters should work with municipalities to get legal permits to host events,” said Rep. Petrea. “If we are successful in passing this legislation to give cities this tool, any promoters of unpermitted events need to understand that they are on the hook to pay for expenses incurred by that unpermitted event.”

“After discussions with Tybee Island officials, local government representatives and legal counsel, we came to the conclusion that additional tools were needed to help address situations where event promoters attempt to bypass permitting processes,” said Sen. Watson.

“The citizens of Tybee Island support these proposed tools for Tybee to address the high costs of responding to promoter-generated events that don’t go through the permitting process, stress our public safety resources and prove to be a financial burden on our taxpayers,” said Tybee Island Mayor Brian West. “I thank our legislators for the work they are doing for our community.”

Working with other members of the Chatham County delegation, Sen. Watson and Rep. Petrea plan to also sponsor legislation that was unanimously requested by the Tybee Island City Council which would bolster the city’s ability to pay for its court and police department’s technological needs. The legislation, which is to be introduced soon, would authorize the city’s municipal court to adopt a fee on citations to pay for hardware, software and associated equipment for body-worn, mobile, stationary or vehicle mounted cameras.

The full text of HB 1079 may be found here.

The full text of SB 443 may be found  here.  

Representative Jesse Petrea represents the citizens of District 166, which includes portions of Bryan and Chatham counties. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2014 and currently serves as Chairman of the Human Relations & Aging Committee and as Secretary of the Game, Fish & Parks Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and the Health, Industry and Labor, Natural Resources & Environment and Public Safety and Homeland Security committees.

Sen. Ben Watson serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Development. He also serves as a member of the Senate Committees on Economic Development and Tourism, Judiciary, Rules and Administrative Affairs. He was elected to serve the 1st Senate District, which includes Bryan and Liberty, and half of Chatham County, in 2014. He may be reached by phone at 404.656.7880 or by email at ben.watson@senate.ga.gov

legis.ga.gov