In a split vote, the City Plan Commission declined to recommend parking relief for two controversial therapeutic practices in Westville, although the request will live to see another day.
For several years, psychologist Maysa Akbar and speech pathologist Alida Engel have operated practices at 801 Edgewood Ave., at the corner of Edgewood and Central avenues. When they found out last fall that they didn’t have the proper zoning relief to do business in a residential zone, they began the process of the getting the approval they need to stay open where they are.
Last week, Akbar and Engel appeared before the Board of Zoning Appeals, seeking permission to keep their Westville businesses open. Dozens of neighbors turned out in support; some showed up to argue against them. See that story here.
The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) heard the testimony of supporters and detractors at its meeting last week, but did not make a decision. The matter was referred to the City Plan Commission, where it was the final item on Wednesday night’s agenda. The issue will next go back to the BZA, where it will be voted on at the board’s April meeting.
The City Plan Commission’s task on Wednesday was to address the problem of parking at the practices. Akbar and Engel are seeking permission to have only six parking spaces available where 25 are required by zoning regulations. It turned out to be a difficult decision for the board.
City Engineer Dick Miller, a non-voting member of the board, started off the discussion by noting that the traffic department recommended denial. He was unmoved when City Zoning Deputy Director Tom Talbot mentioned that many people at the BZA meeting had spoken in favor of the practices.
“If you start going on this path just because people like these people… it’s going to spillover” into other exceptions that will need to be made, Miller cautioned. Moving from 25 to six parking spaces is too big a reduction, the engineer said. “I would feel very uncomfortable recommending that this go forward.”
Talbot noted that concerns about what might happen are moot. Since the practices have both been open for a year and a half at that location, he argued that it’s already clear what the parking situation is. “The neighborhood said there’s less traffic now than when it was a drugstore,” Talbot said.
“I have mixed feelings about it,” board member Susan Jordan said.
“So do I,” said Chair Ed Mattison.
The board contemplated restricting the number of practitioners who could be in the building at one time, but ultimately voted to two to one to deny recommending the proposal, with Audrey Tyson and Ed Mattison in favor of denial and Susan Jordan opposed. The split vote means that the Board of Zoning Appeals receives no official advice one way or the other from the City Plan Commission.