A business looking to expand its seating and kitchen space in Culver saw the initial proposal changed on Tuesday night.
The Culver Town Council took an ordinance to first reading that would change the zoning designation of Papa’s Pizza from C-2 to C-1. The designation typically specifies commercial land. The difference is that a C-1 district does not having parking requirements for each unit of seating.
Town Council President Ginny Bess Munroe says she doesn’t see a problem with changing the zoning for Papa’s Pizza.
“There’s nothing residential around them,” says Munroe. “It makes sense to get creative with the parking on the property, you’ve always had to be creative with parking on that property.”
Plenty of other land in the downtown area is currently zoned C-1. In keeping with aesthetics, the Original Root Beer Stand in Culver was also recommended for the zoning change by the Town’s Plan Commission in the same ordinance.
The new designation for the Root Beer Stand may not be so attractive to Town Council members, however. If the Root Beer Stand was changed, parking would only be a few feet from a residential neighborhood. One audience member suggested leaving the zoning the same and issuing variances for the land.
Kevin Berger oversees a construction company in Culver and sometimes represents the town on different economic development matters. He says going through the variance process with the Board of Zoning Appeals creates problems.
“We didn’t ask for this, we were told this is the best route to go and we said ‘great, we’ll go this way.’ So throwing it out at this point after the Plan Commission has recommended it and approved it with no remonstrance at the public hearing, it makes it very tough for us,” says Berger.
The Town Council approved the rezoning for Papa’s Pizza, but amended the ordinance to leave the Root Beer Stand’s zoning alone. The matter will now go to a second reading.
