"Laws only apply to property owners on one side of street"

[Mindraker1]

Man that city rep puts WAAAY too much emphasis on the word "shall".

[michaelmc525]

Wasn't this an old A&P grocery store? Isn't the loading dock in the same place it always has been for 30 years? Greenlife is 1 block from downtown, this neighborhood was all prostitutes and crack dealers before Greenlife opened up.

[BenjaminG66]

Part of the structure was an A&P, which was built before current zoning laws. The location of the loading dock is not legally grandfathered for several reasons:

1) Greenlife greatly expanded the size of the grocery store. They expanded into the old Laundromat space, and they built several additions to the old structure. And, they built a brand new loading dock on that side when they discovered that the old one could not accommodate today's full size highway tractor trailers. (continued)

[BenjaminG66]

Tell me, how is a brand new loading dock grandfathered?

2) Even if 1 weren't enough (and it is), the law requires for continuous nonconforming use of a property to maintain grandfathered status. The building in question was converted into an office building in the '80s and served in that capacity for a decade or so. The loading dock was not used for 30 years, it's not grandfathered. The planning department was asleep at the wheel when they allowed the new construction to happen.

[BenjaminG66]

Regarding the state of the neighborhood prior to Greenlife, it has been improving for quite some time now, predating Greenlife. Nobody wants Greenlife to shut down; I personally love having them within walking distance.

We just want a loading dock that conforms to the law, so that Maxwell Street is no longer used as a loading bay and truck parking lot.

Regards,

Benjamin

[circusboy90210]

it was not greenlife that changed the neighborhood. things changed way before that. it used to be a food stamp office that's alot to do with why it was poor as hell. also when it was a a&p they did not have 53' trailers. they need to reconfigure the docks & rebuild them to current standards. they should have needed to do this before being allowed to operate.