PL MINUTES 11181980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-5- Mary Ann McNeil, 3500 31st Avenue N.E.., told the Commission she strongly opposes the amendment and asked whether a .petition by the • residents would be in order_. . She was advised by the Chairman that the more input from taxpayers, the City officials get, the better able they are to make decisions. Paul Gabler, 2921 Hilldale .Avenue N.E. promised "his family won't spend another penny. in Apache and I ' ll lobby all my friends and relatives not to go there either .as longus the store is there". The meeting was recessed at 8 :50 P.M. and resumed at .9 : 00 P.M. when Elie Dubay noted "not a person present had spoken in, favor of the amendment" . It was then agreed that the Commission recommendations would be made during the Council ' s December 9th, rather than the November 20th meeting, because of the difficulty of getting the minutes out in one day. The hearing was closed at 9 : 05 P.M. Mrs. Makowske asked whether staff had determined whether the owner of the store in Apache owns other shops of a. similar nature. Mr. Berg stated he was not aware of any. The Chairman also wanted the staff to research the question of. how such stores are working out in other communities, believing there were many unanswered questions on whether such operations increase vacancies in the .shopping centers in which they are located; increase the criminal elements in these • areas;. cause a decline in either the. quality of life of those neighborhoods or of tax revenues for the municipalities as well as whether the contention that obscene materials is not approved by the First _ Amendment is valid. Mr. Jones questioned why a use not permitted in the City Zoning Ordinance has been allowed to continue, believing there is a re- curring problem of businesses ignorning the City' s statutes. He believed the City staff "has to take a tough stand and that police should close down on the offending business until the Council has made a decision on the amendment" . Mr'. Berg said, that normally, depending on the situation, the City's practice has been to allow a business 30 days to vacate after a letter is written by the City Attorney demanding such vacation. Mr. Sopcinski said the legal advisory had convinced him that the City is not allowed to deny the sale of video tapes , recordings, etc. , but the law doesn 't specify what controls youmay have over- the materials . He favored allowing "video tape sales and rentals" as a Conditional Use with an investigation to follow of areas of control possible for the types of materials associated with this operation, which could be a lengthy process , but the City would not be denying all video sales and rentals . Mr.. Jones pointed out that in the case of the print shop, "the Council did not. deny the print shop but just didn't modify the ordinance to • include it as a use in a residential district" . Mrs. Makowske ti