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16
Aug 2007
Retail takes another hit
Posted by Scott Spielman
at 12:46 PM | Comments
The Wayne Planning Commission approved a plan on Tuesday that would further chip away at the retail environment in Wayne.
A church is renting out the old Amish furniture store on Michigan Avenue and Sophia Street. There was a lone no vote on the commission—Kurt Kuban recognized that they didn’t have enough parking and wanted to wait at least until the ZBA granted a variance before the issue was rubber stamped.
Granted, the furniture store didn’t attract a whole lot of foot traffic. It’s also true that the church is allowable through the current zoning on the site, so the commission couldn’t technically deny it.
To me, though, this is just another example of how are city boards and commissions are reactive rather than proactive. How about looking into these things—say, dusting off the decades old master plan—and trying to promote retail areas rather than have them whittled away.
The city council will visit it on Tuesday. I’m curious to hear what they have to say, but I can guess. They’ll be happy to have a vacancy filled, no matter what it is, even if it means a prime retail spot will be filled one day a week. We have to find a way to surmount this hurdle. Sometimes something isn’t better than nothing.
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