I am writing in response to the F.C. Foodie’s question about why more independent restaurants don’t come to Fayetteville.
First, I would like to thank him or her for the mention about Mike and C’s having a wonderful breakfast. That was nice. Now to answer your question.
What most people don’t realize, and I am one of them, is the impact fees that have to be paid before you start construction and are issued permits.
These fees are for water and sewer and a separate one for police, fire, safety and road impacts. It is based on the number of seats that are in your restaurant and not on actual estimated water consumption. This is where Peachtree City and Fayetteville differ.
In Peachtree City I was able to show them that a similar concept that I had owned for over 15 years did not use all that much water and Peachtree City lowered its impacts fees accordingly. I believe it knocked off about $25,000.
Fayetteville, on the other hand, would not even consider the Peachtree City location’s water usage. So before I even got started I was in the hole about $40,000. Most independents can’t afford that kind of money.
My Christmas present from the city was an audit that showed we had nine more seats than what we thought we would be able to accommodate. My present was a bill for $2,200-plus that had to be paid before the first of the year or no business license would be issued for 2006.
My suggestion is for the city to come up with a better plan while working with small businesses.
I will state that we have had great success in working with the city employees as well as the emergency services.
(P.S. I wish you would try us for dinner and our wings, french dip, grouper sandwich as well as our Blackened Bourbon Street. P.S.S. In the freedom section of the paper this week it states Fayette loses another choice dining spot. I bet if you contact the Famous Fish Company it is not about parking but about the impact fees.)
Michael Healy
Peachtree City, Ga.