IRVINGTON—Opening and operating a retail space in Irvington may become a bit easier and less of a bureaucratic hassle for hopeful entrepreneurs following a Tuesday, August 6, meeting.
Zoning administrator Justin Nelson expressed his frustration with the lengthy conditional use permit (CUP) application process, particularly for expanding and changing permitted uses.
According to Nelson, a component of the CUP ordinance states, “A conditional use permit is required for all uses in 154.086 and an additional conditional use permit is required in the event of expansion of or change to an existing permitted use.”
Nelson said properties zoned for business and commercial already have very specific allowed uses, and so long as a property owner is applying to operate a business within the approved list of uses within that zoning, they already know they will receive approval for their by-right use, but still have to wait through the 60-day CUP process.
Nelson noted, however, that material changes, such as retail to restaurant, can pose parking, operating hours or noise issues. For those changes, he said neighbor input is still appropriate and should still go through the CUP public hearing….
