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Tuesday, 29 November 2005 05:09 |
By STEPHANIE THOMAS
While the owners of Greenlife Grocery claim to have followed all guidelines set forth by City Council concerning the area behind the Merrimon Avenue store, laws were overlooked, complaints ignored and suggestions for an alternate loading dock plan rejected, Joe Minicozzi, a certified land planner, charged on Nov. 15 during a Five Points Neighborhood Association meeting in Montford.
?®Here we have a resident who??s frustrated,?∆ Minicozzi said, referring
to his client, Reid Thompson, a property owner on Maxwell Street, which
runs parallel to the Greenlife loading dock. Thompson has been fighting
a battle against the rebuilt loading dock, which was installed to
accommodate larger delivery trucks.
?®We went to City Council,
and they said, ?¥Everything??s fine.?? Well, everything??s not fine,?∆
Minicozzi continued, noting that he and his client found ?®five pages of
code violations.?∆
Meanwhile, Greenlife owners John Swann and
Chuck Pruett noted that they ?®did everything council told them to do?∆
and have always strived to be ?®a neighborhood-friendly store,?∆ and
claim Thompson has ?®harassed employees.?∆
?®Our original concept was to be a neighborhood grocery store, to
support local (farmers) and to have natural and organic products,?∆
Swann said.
?®After construction began, we realized that there was no way to back a
tractor-trailer up to the loading dock,?∆ Swann stated, in explaining
the reason for the expansion.
?®So, we went back to the drawing board with a new design, with the dock at an angle facing Maxwell Street.?∆
The first complaint followed renovations to the building, at which point, ?®Thompson was upset, saying we violated air-pollution ordinances and wanted us to pressure-wash his house?∆ and ?®was very belligerent,?∆ Swann noted.
?®Next, we have complaints coming from the store that he was blocking delivery trucks and harassing and cursing at employees,?∆ he said. ?®The main point is that we are trying to be a good neighborhood grocery store, and abusing drivers is not an appropriate way of addressing concerns. We need to do it legally and respectfully; but that is not how it??s transpired.?∆
Swan added that the delivery trucks are ?®the most complicated issue.?∆
?®We have directed the drivers to enter from Merrimon,?∆ he continued. ?®Nearly all trucks go through the parking lot, and they still have to pull onto Maxwell, but only enough to straighten up. We also have signs posted.?∆
Swann noted that they have consistently had problems with one particular trucking company entering or exiting on Maxwell Street, and that they have been reprimanded for each incident.
Following Swann??s explanation, Minicozzi presented photographs and excerpts from the violated ordinances, and explained that building the extended loading dock ?®was illegal.?∆
?®Trucks don??t fit,?∆ he stated, showing a photograph of a semi-truck parked a few feet from a resident??s car, adding that ?®access to a nonresident?∆ building, such as Greenlife, is ?®prohibited if another entrance is available.?∆
The buffer at the rear of the building, which is intended to create a visual and auditory barrier between commercial and residential property, is also not up to code.
?®There should be a buffer of 20 feet,?∆ Minicozzi said, pointing out other violations concerning the driveway at the entrance.
?®The maximum allowed width is 36 feet,?∆ he noted. ?®You??ve exceeded the legal limits. The driveway is double the width it should be, with no public hearing.?∆
Public hearings before council are required for buildings or property that meets certain height or width restrictions.
?®A citizen shouldn??t have to hire somebody to do this,?∆ he added.
Minicozzi also presented photographs, taken by Thompson from his property, that show delivery trucks parked in front of his house between 3 and 5:30 a.m., which is a violation of ordinances that prevent trucks from making deliveries before 6 a.m., or daylight.
Furthermore, Thompson added that Greenlife employees parking on or near his property has also been a recurring problem.
?®The people I work with have not conspired to do this. It??s not some big conspiracy,?∆ an unidentified female worker from Greenlife said.
The same worker noted that she has been repeatedly harassed and photographed by Thompson, despite her requests for him to stop.
After Minicozzi??s presentation, which also detailed a new loading proposal that would allow trucks to deliver on the more commercial side of the building adjacent to Bordeau Street, Swann told residents what he and his partner believe to be the current question at hand: ?®What can we do now??∆
?®There??s really no easy solution out of this. I would love to have somebody wave a magic wand and give us a solution, but that??s not it,?∆ Swann said, referring to Minicozzi??s proposed loading dock.
?®As we said, we??re looking to work with the neighbors to find any reasonable solutions to any neighborhood issue that??s been addressed,?∆ he continued. ?®We were told that we were in full compliance with all of the local city ordinances.?∆
He added that if there were a problem, then ?®that??s something that the city needs to address. We did what we thought was right.
?®We went through all of the process, and we feel like we tried to do the right thing ?? but we??re blindsided by all
this uproar,?∆ Swann noted. ?®And to be honest, I think the uproar is only coming from a couple of people, maybe even just one.?∆
Swann also stated that the extent to which he and Pruett have gone to try and be ?®good neighbors?∆ has been ignored by Thompson.
?®To come at us, especially with harassing employees and harassing our truck drivers, it??s like, come on, let??s just sit down and have a reasonable conversation,?∆ he said. ?®Let??s stop the war. Why are we having a war??∆
Following a question from an unidentified resident at the meeting, who asked why there was such a ?®personal vendetta,?∆ Thompson stated that what would make him ?®happy?∆ is if the owners ?®followed the law.?∆
Swann replied that the information he and Pruett received from the city through their attorney cited no code violations.
?®I told (our attorney), ?¥I want you to look through every single thing we??ve done. Every permit, every variance, and tell me, have we broken the law? Do we owe the city more money? Anything, please dig up anything you can find,?? and she got nothing. And I heard the same thing from the city attorney, I heard the same thing from Scott Shuford, I heard the same thing from Gary Jackson, the city manager.?∆
At the close of the meeting, Minicozzi again noted Thompson??s ?®frustration?∆ from not being heard by City Council, and added that ?®the city has eliminated his rights for due process.?∆
?®I don??t trust the city at this point,?∆ he noted. ?®We offered a solution with the dock we proposed. You say it can??t be done, so now we??re stuck.?∆
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