Case by Case: How Athens’ Incentives Became a Pattern of Privilege
An ongoing investigative series by The Pulse of Limestone, connecting the dots between city spending, development incentives, and local power. Transparent, factual, and unapologetically local.
While digging through past City Council meeting minutes, resolutions, and archived records dating back to 2018, a clear pattern began to emerge. One that says as much about priorities as it does about progress. Beneath the polished language of “economic development” and “growth incentives,” there’s a trail of quiet deals, selective generosity, and familiar names.
Athens is now the fastest-growing city in Alabama, and with that growth comes competition. It’s understood that incentives and abatements are standard tools to attract new development and boost revenue. That part isn’t the problem. The problem is how they’re used and who benefits when the city decides, as one councilman once put it, to handle them “on a case-by-case basis.”
Back in August 2018, those “cases” were anything but quiet. City leaders were split over whether to offer $250,000 in incentives to bring Panera Bread to U.S. 72. The proposal promised forty new jobs and a 7,000-square-foot restaurant, but it quickly became one of the most contentious public debates Athens had seen in years.
Mayor Ronnie Marks argued that the deal might make or break Panera’s decision to come. In an Athens News Courier article from August 2018 mentions a local business owner who brought the first Bojangles in the entire state of Alabama right here to Athens, publicly opposed the plan. He took a chance on this city years earlier, before the boom and before the incentives, and built his restaurant from the ground up without a single dollar of help.
“We didn’t approach the city about incentives,” the owner said. “We’ve been paying taxes for 12 years and employ 50 people.”
The article mentions inside City Hall, there was tension. Then Council President Chris Seibert admitted Athens handled incentives “on a case-by-case basis,” while then councilman Joseph Cannon questioned whether businesses that needed taxpayer money to open were truly ready to invest here.
By August 13, 2018, the debate grew so heated that the council pulled the proposal entirely. As reported by the Athens News Courier in January 2019, Seibert later described the uproar as the result of “inaccurate remarks and anxiety” from citizens, dismissing the legitimate frustration of small business owners who felt shut out of the process.
Seibert also compared the Panera deal to a 2015 arrangement for the Buffalo Wild Wings–anchored shopping center, where the city quietly abated up to $220,000 in sales taxes for chains like Buffalo Wild Wings, Osborne’s Jewelers, and Marco’s Pizza. Those incentives didn’t make headlines; they simply passed as “routine business.”
But here’s where things get interesting.
If you visit the City of Athens website today, you won’t find the Panera debate listed anywhere. No agenda. No minutes. No record of the discussion or the public outcry. It’s as if the entire controversy was wiped clean. Ctrl + Alt + Del, and it’s gone.
Fortunately, back then, news stations like WAFF and the Athens News Courier were still covering council meetings closely, capturing the controversy on record. That kind of local accountability is rare today. The cameras are gone. The coverage has thinned. And that silence, intentional or not, speaks volumes.
Because despite all the drama, here’s the kicker: Panera came anyway.
No $250,000. No special deal. Just confidence in the Athens market. Proof that real investment doesn’t need to be bought.
Fast-forward seven years.
The money has grown, and the scrutiny has disappeared.
Today, multi-million-dollar incentives move quietly through resolutions and “development agreements” with little discussion and almost no dissent, buried deep in the classified section of local papers just enough to satisfy state requirements. What once sparked headlines now slides under the radar, cloaked in fine print most residents never see.
Meanwhile, two of Athens’ local Italian restaurants, Terranova’s and Lil Mazzara’s, have proven that success doesn’t require special treatment. Terranova’s has chosen Athens twice. When the building owners on the square declined to renew their lease, they didn’t walk away. They reinvested, reopened, and kept serving this community without a single abatement or grant.
Lil Mazzara’s did the same. No tax breaks. No handouts. Just faith in the town they call home.
Both are family-owned Italian restaurants that brought authenticity, heart, and jobs to Athens. Yet on Monday, October 27th, the City Council will hold a public hearing to consider an incentive package for Olive Garden, a billion-dollar corporate chain with the resources to open anywhere it wants.
And here’s where the irony stings.
Back in 2018, then Councilman Joseph Cannon, who now serves as the Limestone County Licensing Commissioner, said in an interview,
“Now that I’ve seen Terranova’s come in and do it on their own, I wouldn’t support an Olive Garden incentive.”
He said it plainly. He said it proudly. And he was right.
Because if local businesses like Terranova’s and Lil Mazzara’s could build and thrive without city money, what exactly changed in seven years? The city, the players, or just the price tag?
In 2018, the idea of giving away a quarter-million dollars filled council chambers and drew public outrage. In 2025, multi-million-dollar abatements are quietly approved, tucked into resolutions few residents ever see.
Athens once fought these battles in the open. Now, they unfold in near silence.
And for those following the paper trail, this is only the beginning.
Because the Panera deal wasn’t the last; it was the template.
Over the coming days and weeks, we’ll continue tracing those “case-by-case” decisions, connecting the dots between who’s been granted abatements, who’s behind the developments, and who’s profiting quietly from Athens’ growth.
The pattern is there. The names repeat.
And the story isn’t over yet.
Follow the Money. The numbers don’t lie, but they sure tell a story.
Editor’s Note:
This article is an opinion piece that incorporates publicly available information, public records, and reporting from verified news outlets. It is part of The Limestone Lowdown’s ongoing investigative series examining city spending, development incentives, and patterns of local governance in Athens and Limestone County. Stay tuned for upcoming installments uncovering more abatements, connections, and the paper trail that ties them together.
