SCAD cries foul after new property owner makes $500K demand for parking rights

By Eric Curl

Aug. 25, 2024 – The Savannah College of Art and Design is taking a new neighbor to court over a parking and property rights dispute.

The nonprofit university recently filed suit in Chatham County Superior Court against a limited liability corporation that acquired property SCAD uses as a parking lot for the university’s Gulfstream Center for Design building at 3116 Montgomery St. SCAD claims a permanant easement on the new owner’s property provides the university the right to use the lot for parking.

About a quarter of an acre in size, the triangle shaped parcel in dispute is bounded by train tracks on its eastern side, the SCAD building to the north and Montgomery to the west. The Chatham County Board of Assessors valued the property this year at $36,900.

Related: SCAD map and property database>

After acquiring the site at 3126 Montgomery St. for $25,000 in February with full knowledge of SCAD’s easement and right to use the property, the new owner is now threatening to bar SCAD from the property, put in a paid parking lot and tow any vehicles not paying for parking, unless the university pays the new property owner $500,000, according to the complaint. SCAD is seeking a court ruling that would allow the university to continue to use the property for parking, which it claims it has used for more than 20 years.

The deed states the uses permitted via the easement are for ingress and egress to the property, storage and “any other purpose relating to warehousing”, according to the university’s claim.

In its response, the new owner, 3126 Montgomery Street, LLC, claims that the uses granted by the easement are limited and do not include the university’s right to use the property for parking.

“Plaintiff’s use of the easement area for student and faculty parking renders the lot entirely useless to Defendant and therefore unreasonably interferes with its enjoyment,” the court response states.

The company behind the purchase was formed by local developer Jeff Notrica, who said he acquired the site with the intention of operating a 60-space parking lot he estimates would generate about $100,000 a year. The easement provides access to the adjacent rail line to accommodate the building’s previous industrial use, but it does not give SCAD the right to use it for parking, Notrica said.

“Why they think they’re entitled to have this for free, I don’t really understand,” he said. “But we’re going to go see what a judge says.”

A final hearing on the matter is scheduled for Sept. 19. Meanwhile, a temporary restraining order and injunction has been granted at the university’s request. As a result, the new property owner is prohibited from installing any type of barricade that would block SCAD’s access to the easement area or ability to park there without paying a fee, however; the new property owner is permitted to install pay-for-parking signs with QR codes that may include towing language. The consent order will remain in place until the court holds the final hearing on SCAD’s claim.

Editor’s note: This article was updated from its original version to include Jeff Notrica’s comments.

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