Feb. 24—Several concerned business owners attended the Lebanon City Council’s meeting Tuesday night to inquire about “Project Central Perk,” a $1.5 million dollar incentive to bring a new restaurant to the west side of Lebanon.
“I stand by this incentive, I really do, because people are demanding that we bring these restaurants in,” Lebanon Mayor Rick Bell said. “We hear it all the time. They want full-service restaurants.”
Bell said that this is not the first time that the city has given economic incentives for businesses.
“The Publix on Highway 109 received an incentive,” Bell said. “That development also carved out parcels for restaurants. On that one we’ve already made our money back.”
Economic and Community Development Director Sarah Haston first contacted the restaurant three years ago. Last year, Haston and Bell held a meeting with the restaurant, during which they showed them around town to search for a parcel.
“They came back two months later and said, ‘We have picked our spot,’ and they showed it to us,” Bell said. “When they showed us that they picked their spot, that’s when they said, ‘But we’re going to need some assistance,’ and they gave us the amount.”
Bell assured citizens that the funding comes from hotel/motel tax, and not local tax dollars.
“This is paid for by people who get off the interstate and stay in our hotels,” Bell said. “According to the state of Tennessee, we can only spend that money on tourism or economic development. We cannot hire firefighters with it or police officers or anything else. The tourism department, the county does. So, our main focus is economic development.”
The capital investment by the restaurant will be $8.9 million, and it will provide 85-100 jobs. When the restaurant was presented to the industrial development board, it was passed unanimously.
Cody Lannom, partner at Cedar City Brewing on the square, was the first to voice his concerns about the project.
“In the last two years I’ve had the honor to partner with two life-long friends in an entrepreneur venture that provides both a living and the opportunity to give back to our community,” Lannom said. “In fact, we opened the doors to Cedar City Brewing just 18 months ago. I use this example and the purpose of this to showcase the local entrepreneurial spirit that exists right here in our own backyard and to inquire on the city’s decision to allocate $1.5 million of taxpayer money to place an out-of-town restaurant on the west side of town. As a local entrepreneur who has invested his blood, sweat, and capital into a local venture, I can’t help but want to know more about this decision.”
Gina Stradley, co-owner of Sammy B’s, also addressed the council.
“I don’t want you to misconstrue the fact that because we are restaurant people — and I’m speaking for my husband and myself — that it’s because another restaurant’s coming to town,” Stradley said. “That’s not it at all. We welcome other restaurants here. We understand that it will bring more people here.”
Stradley asked the council for transparency in relation to the project.
“When we hear something like that, it is a little bit troubling and the fact that we can’t get answers to the questions, that’s even more troubling,” Stradley said.
Bell said the city created an industrial development board to bring the community what they’ve been asking for.
“When that board was created, we made clear that it was for full-service restaurants and high-level retail,” Bell said. “The state made us name it that, but we don’t recruit industry, the county does that.”
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