Zoning law leaves room for argument

We cannot, without sensing the irony, report on a business owner upset about zoning laws that he only months ago argued to uphold.

One of the reasons (although possibly not the most important to him) that MPH Auto owner Mike Horne objected to a home mechanic charging for repairs made in his garage was that that mechanic’s house was in an area zoned for residential use, not commercial.

Be that as it may, Horne argues now that the city must live by a clerical error made when he was granted a permit to change a building just down the block from his current business so he could buy and use the new building.

Lawyers might have a word to describe knowingly allowing a false application to go through.

Nevertheless, it’s difficult for those who weren’t involved in the planning commission decision to understand why one side of the street allows a mechanic shop, but not the other. Or why one is not allowed a couple hundred feet down the street under new zones implemented in 2011.

Done right, zoning laws allow for control of growth and containment of certain qualities within warranted boundaries. Done wrong, they can be argued out of existence if leaders aren’t careful. The city council will have to consider its course and Horne’s appeal carefully.

Scott Hunter

Editor and publisher