Department of Community Destruction

The latest in the saga of All Star has now turned into an ongoing battle over proper english grammar writing. I received this letter earlier this week, retyped here:
"Dear Ms. Lay; After further review, it has been determined that you Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) application request does not meet the minimum requirements for a special exception to be heard by the BZA. The expansion or alteration of the convenience store/deli to include tables and chairs will require additional parking, resulting in the noncompliance with the aforementioned parking requirement and is prohibited by Section 114-1040.3(7(c)).

If you wish to continue to use the property for a restaurant (sit-down) use, a Special Use Permit will be required. Please contact the Land Use Admin...." ending with names and numbers of the zoning planner and administrators.

The fact that I am denied the option to appeal the decision is based upon the following Zoning Code outlining the restrictions of appeals to be heard by the BZA; if an appeal falls into one of these categories, it can not be heard by the BZA:

"(7) Nonconforming use: enlargement, extension or alteration. Enlargement, extension or structural alteration of a building or structure devoted to a nonconforming use; extension or expansion of a nonconforming use within a building or structure; or construction of an accessory building or structure to serve an existing nonconforming use; provided that:

c. There shall be no increase in the number of dwelling units on the property, nor shall the granting of such exception result in noncompliance with any yard, open space, parking or other requirements of this chapter or any increase in the degree or extent of any nonconforming feature;"

My confusion stems from the fact that this clause refers to adding "dwelling spaces" on the property, which does not apply to my case. When I asked for clarification from both the Planner and the Zoning Administrator, all I was given is this response: "The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) has limited powers and under the exception, the BZA cannot hear this case due to noncompliance with the bolded section, below. The change from a take-out restaurant having a parking requirement of 1 space per each 150 sq. ft. of floor area to a sit-down restaurant having a parking requirement of 1 space per each 100 sq. ft. of floor area results in a net increase in the parking required. Parking is a feature of the use and, for this reason, is not permitted under the normal provisions of the nonconforming section of the Ordinance nor is it permitted under the Special Exception powers of the BZA." and the previous clause written again, but bolding only the second half of the sentence.

Their explanation relies upon this clause, but it is explained by skipping over the first half of the sentence and saying that the second half of the sentence applies to my case....? How can a compound sentence, with a subject and predicate and conjunction (which I will remind us are words such as: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so), be separated? The purpose of the conjunction is to link the second half of the sentence to the first half of the sentence and explain it further. So, obviously, my application is denied because the zoning clause is able to be interpreted to fit the zoning administrator's decision, rather than read following the grammar rules by which it was written.

The Saga Continues...

This past Friday afternoon, with our heads held high and armed with an arsenol of witty commentary and pertinent questions, Jamie and I marched straight in to city hall with the sole intention of standing our ground and only leaving once we had gained more information and a better plan of action. We quietly approached our unsuspecting vicitms in the Zoning Commission's office, and once given the chance, we opened fire with a barrage of demands for written documentaion and better explanations. It took some time for the desk clerks to regain their ground once we had strategically deployed our logical arguments. Their only defense was to present us with a document of appeal in which to address the next in their chain of command, the Board of Zoning Compliance. Upon presentaion of the document, we agreed to accept this as a gesture of truce, pending their retreat. We left the office unshaken and feeling victoriuos at our accomplishments. But the victory in this battle is only one of many that we must endure to ensure the preservation of our way of life.

We remain with strong spirits, and we are steadfast in preparing our minds and hearts in anticipation of a second (and final) battle. This next pursuit will be met with a much greater force, and we will need more support as well as dynamic planning in order to achieve a swift victory. In these next few weeks we will be preparing our defenses. We will draw up plans for our demands to remain as a deli/convenience store with the addition of tables and chairs. This "variance" tactic is our best possible defense and one in which we must make every effort to be completly accurate in pinpointing our target. We are asking for customers to sign petitions, we will need architecturally detailed floor plans, and we will present the board with many pictures of the proposed space with the happy faces that rely on All Star for their survival. We are confident that these tactics will capture and criple our enemies defenses, thus claiming our victory once again.

Oh All Star, where art thou??

"The man" is trying to bring me down, man!

The city zoning commission sent a letter giving us a thirty day notice to "cease all operations" in the business because we are not in compliance with our "certificate of occupancy" that states we are zoned as Grocery/Convenience Market. The evidence of our non-compliance is the tables and chairs that we put in last year! Apparently, and I have yet to see this in writing, tables and chairs = restaurant (sit down) and are not permitted in a grocery/convenience market. Therefore, our options are one of the following:

1. Get rid of the tables and chairs and go back to being just a market (no draft beer either, obviously) and no sit-in customers to keep us company!
2. Pay $250 to appeal the decision made by the zoning commission and fight a losing battle to stay as we are.
3. Pay $200 and apply for a restaurant zoning certificate, but open Pandora's box of other regulations and costs that go into that as well
4. Go bankrupt and look for some thing else to do with my life!

I'm optimistic in going with option 3, but our lease is up at the end of this year, and I'm not sure that I want to spend a bunch of money making this a restaurant if I can't buy the building or renew the lease. This space is not particularly well suited for a restaurant. Some of the set backs will include requirements to make the entrance (an 8 inch stone step) and the bathroom (a 4ft x 4ft closet) handicap accessible, which may not even be physically possible in this building. We will also be required to have two to seven reserved parking spaces, also an impossible feat for this city neighborhood or it will cost five hundred dollars a month if we can convince a parking lot owner two blocks away. Thus, option 3 will be a long, arduous, expensive process.

Option 1 is looking ever more appealing, except for the defeatist feeling and letting "the man" win. Putting pride aside, there may be some better opportunities, and at an affordable rate, in focusing on the market side of things. One promising venture is in setting up an agreement with a local farmer for her to keep a case of fresh veggies and fruits on sale here throughout the season (I'll be meeting with her today!). By pushing the local produce and using some of it in our deli, we could capture the local market that is looking for this kind of opportunity as an alternative to the box-grocery store. Another idea that a good friend (Sophia) reminded me of is to make more prepared foods (especially using the local products) like salads and baked goods along with our sandwiches, and sell those in bulk containers. There was a woman, Annie, in our home town that made a decent living off of making salads and baked goods and selling them to local sandwich shops or direct from her house. She grew much of her ingredients in her garden, and made delicious combinations that were better than any store bought brand. That is something that I think AllStar could do as well, and maybe have some agreements with other local shops to sell or trade for their products (coffee for cookies!).

I like the thought of making more delicious foods, but I am not totally set on letting the seating go, yet. This fight is not over. I'll have to do some more research and get some more information on how to make the system work for us, again. But at the least this little incident has prompted me to be a bit more proactive with ideas for getting All Star to a better place. Any ideas or words of encouragement are always appreciated!

The State of Things

For the past two years, I have owned a corner "market and deli" in an urban neighborhood of Richmond, VA.  I decided to embark on this venture in the midst of finishing a master's degree and living in a different state.  My degree has little to do with small business ownership, but at that time I was bitter towards continuing on in the field in which I had been trained.  For lack of a better explanation, I wanted to pursue something of my own making rather than feel stuck in the machinery of an academic career (which is where I was heading).  Thus, I took equity out of the condo that I owned, purchased the already (somewhat) established business, acquired all the proper licenses and opened December 2006.  I was still living a state away then, and traveling every other weekend, in between finishing my thesis.  Finally, after graduation the following May, I moved up to Richmond and settled in to being the owner on a daily basis.  All of that went along fairly smoothly, and looking back now (of course) seems like it was all an easy process.  

The hardest part about owning a business, for me, has been dealing with feeling responsible for EVERY LITTLE ASPECT of the business.  That is my biggest weakness in owning this business; trying to do everything.  I have learned to delegate responsibility, but only in the last few months have I actually practiced it.  I had a moment of clarity one morning, riding my bike across the river to work; I was thinking about a non-profit that I want to start one day and realizing that all of the ideas that I have in mind are way beyond my knowledge or skill.  I started thinking about all the job positions that would be necessary to accomplish any one of the goals for the non-profit, and stupidly I was trying to fill every one of those with myself.  Of course, the next thought was how my current business was similar to that structure or lack of structure that I had conjured up.  I employ five people, and there is no reason why I should have to do the jobs that I pay them to do.  I am exhausted everyday and up at night thinking and stressing about all of the things that need to get done.  It took me two years to figure out that I need to be concentrating less on the daily operations and more on the management of the business itself.  I try to do bookkeeping, ring up customers, stock shelves, make sandwiches, plan budgets, finance upgrades, and on and on, and feel negligent for having a conversation with a customer for longer than ten minutes.  On the one hand, my involvement like this is necessary because I am not in a position to pay someone else to do it ( I hardly pay myself!).  But on the other hand, the juggling act is falling apart, and the more I take on, the more unsteady everything becomes.  I don't foresee much changing in the next few months, given the state of things in the economy and in our budget.  Hopefully, this present understanding should help me to take a look at what I am doing and to rearrange things where they can be changed.