ST. MARYS, Ga. — The Ask Anthony team is following up on a story out of St. Marys, Georgia.
While in the historic town, the team spoke with one business owner who had a problem he just couldn't solve. He could only operate half of his business because of a permit issue.
READ MORE: St. Marys business owner can only use half of his building due to unexpected permit issue
Two weeks ago, Anthony Austin aired his story on First Coast News and the response in the community was overwhelming.
"Thanks to you, and thanks to the residents and local business owners of downtown St. Marys, I think we're getting to the point where we've reached a resolution," Jeremy Nascimento said.
Nascimento is the owner of Yankee Pie Apizza in historic St. Marys. He bought the town's old post office to turn half of it into a pizza spot. Nascimento is also a hairstylist. So, he was going to turn the other half of this building into a salon.
But, city leaders put a halt on the project because of a flood ordinance.
"Unfortunately, I can only operate 50 percent of my business because they're not able to issue me a permit. They brought up, after the fact, this flood ordinance. Basically, what it's saying is that I can't do more than 50 percent of build-out that exceeds the fair market value of the building. We've already done half of that and it was only told to me after I've emptied my life savings into this small business," Nascimento explained in a previous interview.
The Ask Anthony team shared Nascimento's story at the end of February. After his story aired, dozens of people commented on social media. The following week, even more people came out to support him at a city council meeting.
On Monday, Nascimento met with city leaders.
"They just said there's a few things that we just need to bring up as far as outlets and electrical units outside. So, as long as that is just brought up a little bit above base flood elevation, I think we should be good to move forward with the permit," Nascimento added.
St. Marys City Manager Robert Horton didn't deny there was a snag in the permitting process, but he told Anthony Austin everything could be worked out at a reasonable price, so Nascimento can finish construction and be in compliance.
"I think because of your help the city of St. Marys is better for it. I think they're going to be easier on small businesses going forward," Nascimento said.
Because of this issue, Nascimento decided he wanted to be a stronger voice in the community. On Tuesday, he announced on social media he's running for city council.