Atlanta

Atlanta City Council fighting to save longtime businesses being threatened by inflation

ATLANTA — Over the past two decades, Savage Pizza has become a staple in Atlanta’s Little Five Points neighborhood.

Now the Atlanta City Council wants to help legacy businesses like Savage and others across the city survive inflation, rising rents and the city’s growth.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Atlanta City Councilman Jason Dozier authored a resolution that passed through the committee earlier this week and will likely receive the council’s full support in a vote on Monday.

Dozier told Channel 2′s Justin Wilfon that the resolution calls on the city to study legacy business protection programs in other cities, like Seattle and San Francisco. The study’s outcome could lead to Atlanta developing a similar program that could give legacy businesses, like Savage Pizza or The Varsity, low-interest loans or grants.

“It sounds like a great initiative,” said Savage Pizza GM Jay Dalu. “I’m really excited about them trying to push things like that for folks like us that are just kind of local in business.”

TRENDING STORIES:

“We’ve had businesses who, due to redevelopment, are no longer able to operate in the site that they’ve been in for 15 or 20 years,” said Dozier.

Dozier believes it would help save the city’s soul.

“Keep Atlanta, Atlanta,” said Dozier.

The feasibility study will take about a year to complete before it returns to the city council for another vote.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS: