In the city of Port Wentworth, divides run deep.
These divisions cut the municipality’s 65-year history into two eras and splits the city's footprint into two parts. The defining moment occurred with the 1989 annexation of the northern portion of the city, a move that added 20 square miles north of Bonnybridge Road and would change the course of Port Wentworth's future.
The expansion more than tripled the land area of the once tiny and quaint town. In the decades since, population has tripled as well, to 13,000 residents, a boom sparked by industrial growth largely connected to the nearby Port of Savannah as well as Savannah's broader economic success and a demand for affordable housing.
Rather than serve as the city's saving grace, the growth has introduced conflicts across Port Wentworth's many neighborhoods, discord city leaders have been ill-prepared to handle.
The expansion was meant to be a strategic move to buck the declining population diminished by the industrial growth. But eagerness to expand took precedence over careful planning, resulting in inadequate public services and a lack of commercial resources most acutely felt in the annexed area, the city’s burgeoning north side.
Additionally, several existing, historically Black rural communities were left in the lurch while the city government prioritized new residential development.
Housing development in the north attracted a surge of new residents, most of whom are Black, Latino and multiracial. While the northern portion of the city's population ballooned about 150%, the southern end grew 11%, according to 2020 census data. The neighborhoods south of Bonnybridge Road, collectively referred to as “old Port Wentworth,” remained home to generations of white families who first settled there - though that side is gradually diversifying as well.
The city’s main roadway, Georgia 21, is often clogged with traffic as the region continues to grow in people and in warehouses. The highway connects the north and south sides of town but serves more as a barrier to the already disparate communities, say residents of the city.
In recent years, the disparities and angst have played out in Port Wentworth City Council meetings. Those disagreements reached a crisis point this year when the mayor attempted to dissolve the city charter. When that effort failed, he pushed to split Port Wentworth into two municipalities.
Divisiveness puts city in crisis
For the first time in over a month, council and mayor convened the evening of March 24. But residents packing the chamber did not see a united council – many admit they can’t remember a moment when they have.
“My entire time that I’ve lived here, it’s always been ‘the north side’ and ‘downtown’,” said resident Chris Hanks, who moved to the north side of town in 2008 when housing development boomed and led to the creation of what people now call “North Port Wentworth.”
“It’s not fair to us … we’re one Port Wentworth!” he said.
Differences between the two communities – geographic, demographic and political – have played out countless times through their respective council representatives.
But the March meeting was the first time the council was seriously considering breaking Port Wentworth apart. A feasibility study examining a split should be conducted, the council said, despite everyone’s wishes to stay united.
Unity has been absent in the city of Port Wentworth for years. Some say that it never existed. In recent months, tensions that had been brewing between the city’s north and south end finally boiled over. Frustrations and interpersonal conflicts that had festered behind closed doors finally came to a head in the form of public outbursts, a city employee walkout and the shutdown of city hall.
City and local officials, partitioned into north-south factions, held separate meetings.
Proceeding without the mayor and a council representative of Old Port Wentworth, a quorum of council members representing mainly the north side carried on with city business.
Meanwhile, Mayor Gary Norton hosted an informal press conference under a park pavilion to announce the possibility of dissolving the city charter. Residents, largely from Old Port Wentworth, were informed ahead of time and showed up. North Port Wentworth residents were not told about the gathering and felt shut out.
The call for drastic change marked the climax of decades of failed efforts to address woes tied to growth.
Politics as usual for Port Wentworth
Since 2010, when the city of Port Wentworth adopted the by-district system, city hall has rarely known peace. Splitting the city into districts was supposed to ensure council representation for both sides of town. Districts 1 and 3 cover the north side; District 2 mostly encompasses the north and a smaller section of Old Port Wentworth; and District 4 sits firmly in the original part of town. Two at-large members and the mayor represent the whole city.
Council members’ attempts to secure the interests of their constituents have devolved into acrimonious arguments and stalemates, preventing the city from focusing on a stated common goal – protecting the quality of life of residents in an area facing increased industrialization.
Fed up with the council's infighting, Hanks, the north side resident, demanded action from his elected leaders in that March 24 meeting. "Dissolve the city charter, split the city or keep it the same?" he said.
The divide runs deeper than today’s interpersonal conflicts. When the city annexed its northern portion in 1989, the original boundary line never seemed to disappear. Instead, it scarred the city like an angry wound, refusing to heal and refusing to be forgotten.
The council voted unanimously to explore a divide.
The study is underway, although city officials have yet to issue a timeline for when it would be done or even details of how the process might work. The city manager recently told council members and residents of his struggles to identify an outside consultant to take on the project.
Two state universities, the University of Georgia and Georgia State University, routinely prepare reports for communities considering cityhood. However, neither has ever explored splitting an existing municipality in two.
In the end, no one can predict the future, said Tim Holbrook, a resident of old Port Wentworth and a past mayor. Holbrook oversaw the expansion of the north side in his term in the early 2000s, back when construction was just beginning.
He now runs a deli with his wife in Port Wentworth's downtown district. The couple have a second location on the north side. Holbrook doesn’t have animosity towards the people, he said. As the past mayor, he wants to see the city prosper.
But his own frustrations about council dysfunction over the years have led him to think, maybe the city is better divided.
“We don’t want to be part of this type of government,” said Holbrook.
Nancy Guan is the general assignment reporter covering Chatham County municipalities. Reach her at nguan@gannett.com or on Twitter @nancyguann.