Modern Realty, located at 550 Main St., says at this location it has everything it needs to run its business. Ample office space for its employees. Ample parking. It has taken pride in its business look, both inside and out. And it has brought new life to a commercial building that was empty and on the real estate market for around 15 months without any takers.
So all is well, yes?
Actually, no.
In the Town of Yarmouth real estate businesses are defined as a professional business office. And the town’s Municipal Planning Strategy and its land use bylaws state that the location of this type of business is restricted to the central business district – or, as it is commonly referred to, the downtown. The town’s Municipal Planning Strategy states that by limiting business and professional offices to the downtown area, it will remain the “heart” of Yarmouth.
So although Modern Realty is located on Main Street, the business has been told it is not located on the right part of Main Street.
And while there are more than two dozen allowable uses in the general commercial zone where Modern Realty is now located, real estate offices are not one of them.
The owners of Modern Realty, Louisette Higgins and Tiffany Atkinson – along with their staff – hope Yarmouth town council will see fit to eventually approve an application it has made. Modern Realty has applied to amend the Municipal Planning Strategy and the Land Use By-Law to permit small-scale business offices in the medium density residential Main Street zone, and to downzone 550 Main St. to this type of zone.
The matter is part of the town council agenda for Thursday evening (Aug. 13). But so too is a recommendation from the town’s Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) that the application be rejected since it is not in keeping with the Municipal Planning Strategy.
The options council will have at the meeting are to reject the application or to take the application under consideration and proceed to a public participation meeting back at the PAC level. Council doesn’t have the option at its Aug. 13 meeting of approving the application without a public participation meeting having been held at the committee level. In future council could also hold a public hearing, but only if a public participation meeting has been held at the committee level first.
If council votes to refuse the application at it's Aug. 13 meeting, than the issue ends.
Update on this story: At its Aug. 13 town council meeting, council refused the rezoning application made by the local real estate company, Modern Realty. Council said its decision was not about one business but about the bigger picture.
OUTGREW ITS DOWNTOWN SPACE
Modern Realty used to be located in the downtown. Its previous home was a space it rented at 308 Main St. The business, just three years old, has done very well in its infancy. And with the hiring of five additional employees over the years, it had outgrown its downtown space. The business owners say they looked for alternative space in the downtown but didn’t find anything that suited their needs.
“We looked at a few places but the cost for what we needed wasn’t viable,” Higgins says, noting many buildings would require extensive renovating. Size was another issue. “One of the best spaces we found was more than double what we were paying. It just wasn’t feasible.”
And then there was the fact that down the street one of the business owners owned an empty building that used to be a hair salon. So not only was Modern Realty paying rent in the downtown, but one of its owners was paying a mortgage and taxes on another building too. Not only would a move to this building suit the needs of the business, but it would also provide Modern Realty with an asset.
Higgins and Atkinson says when they made an inquiry at the town hall they were told they could be on Main Street, but they were not allowed to be on Starrs Road. Admittedly, they say, it wasn’t a long conversation. But seeing whereas the building was zoned commercial and commercial taxes were being paid on it, they thought all was good to go.
Had it not been for the fact that one of the business owners owned this building, Higgins and Atkinson say they would have kept exploring alternate spaces in the downtown. They wouldn’t have stayed at 308 Main St. Another tenant was found for that property before they made their move.
But when Modern Realty applied for permits for signage at 550 Main St., it was told it isn’t permitted to be located where it is.
The issue has since come up for discussion and debate at several Planning Advisory Committee meetings.
Higgins says she respects the concern people have that approving the application could cause other businesses to say they intend to move as well. But Modern Realty doesn’t see this happening since their application is for professional office use of a certain size at a certain location, and where they are located now there aren’t a lot of other building options for other people to move to.
“It's not opening up the gamut of everyone leaving the downtown,” Higgins says, adding. “We don’t want the downtown to die.”
Still, the business owners feel too many people are just focusing on the ‘We can’t let them out of the downtown’ argument, without looking at what could take place with zoning. “We want to work together to fix this,” Higgins says.
And if the concern is that allowing Modern Realty to be located outside the downtown means others will want to leave the downtown too, the business owners ask: Doesn’t that suggest there is an issue with the downtown?
ABOUT PLANNING AND ZONING
Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood says when it comes to planning and zoning, there are many reasons why rules, like the ones the town has in place, exist.
“We are not alone in having empty storefronts. And while many make fun of the state of our downtown when comparing it to what it was, the fact is we have a downtown. That would not be the case if we did not have such a strong Municipal Planning Strategy that keeps offices and more in the core district,” she says.
The mayor says the belief that the town will adhere to its planning strategy has encouraged many businesses and individuals to invest heavily in the central business district. She says that significant changes to allowable uses would undermine these investments and weaken the strength of the downtown, and, in turn, the town itself.
Also, to have more retail in the downtown the mayor says you need critical mass of people. This is achieved by having more businesses located in the downtown, creating more reasons for the public to come to the downtown.
The mayor says in this particular matter the "dedicated group of volunteers" on the Planning Advisory Committee have discussed this application at five meetings. “They read, studied, discussed, measured the pros and cons and considered everything put before them.”
Still, any decision or recommendation of the committee is not final, the mayor says. The final decision rests with council. Mayor Mood knows that for the public, wading through planning is not an easy thing to do. Nor, she says, is making a decision on this application.
“One of council’s priorities is to be open and inviting to business,” she says. But the mayor also says the town can’t make decisions by just looking at one business in isolation. Still, she says, the town recognizes that applications that come before it can bring "very viable reasons for change."
“Our decisions have to be based on all businesses that would fall within any change and, ultimately, what is best for the entire town,” she says.
The town is actually also in the process of reviewing its Municipal Planning Strategy, although the expected completion date isn’t expected until March 2016.
BUSINESS HOPING SOLUTION CAN BE FOUND
Back at Modern Realty, the business owners hope a solution can be found that works for everyone. The business has been fined $233.95 for violating the provisions of the town’s land use bylaws. It hopes not to see the situation come to a point where the town would render more fines and put a padlock on their property.
Higgins and Atkinson stare out their windows at 550 Main St. and see themselves surrounded by many other businesses and commercial uses. One of their neighbours is a furniture store that used to be located in the downtown. For more than a year the furniture store's former location has sat empty in the downtown, with the exception of a storefront art gallery that set up last summer.
Furniture stores are among the allowable uses in the General Commercial zone where 550 Main St. is located. Some of the other allowable usages are: Retail Shops; Community Markets; Light Service Shops; Personal Service Shops; Internet Web Site Development; Restaurants; Taverns, Lounges and Cabarets; Hotels and Motels; Automobile Service Stations; Cable Television Studios; Laundromat and Banks and Financial Institutions with 200 square feet or less in commercial floor area per lot.
If Modern Realty is told it has to move, the building it is now in will become empty again. But if the business is told it can’t stay where it is, it also doesn’t automatically mean they’ll go back to the downtown. The owners say if they can’t find a location that suits their needs they’ll have to explore options outside of the town.
Above all else, they say, they just want to operate their business, preferrably where it is now, which for them is the ideal location.
“Our business is doing well. We’re from here. We have family here. We employ people from here,” Higgins says. “We literally sell Yarmouth and the town. We brag to our clients about Yarmouth and how great it is. We just want to be able to work with council and the committee members to find a way for all of this to work out.”
Modern Realty, located at 550 Main St., says at this location it has everything it needs to run its business. Ample office space for its employees. Ample parking. It has taken pride in its business look, both inside and out. And it has brought new life to a commercial building that was empty and on the real estate market for around 15 months without any takers.
So all is well, yes?
Actually, no.
In the Town of Yarmouth real estate businesses are defined as a professional business office. And the town’s Municipal Planning Strategy and its land use bylaws state that the location of this type of business is restricted to the central business district – or, as it is commonly referred to, the downtown. The town’s Municipal Planning Strategy states that by limiting business and professional offices to the downtown area, it will remain the “heart” of Yarmouth.
So although Modern Realty is located on Main Street, the business has been told it is not located on the right part of Main Street.
And while there are more than two dozen allowable uses in the general commercial zone where Modern Realty is now located, real estate offices are not one of them.
The owners of Modern Realty, Louisette Higgins and Tiffany Atkinson – along with their staff – hope Yarmouth town council will see fit to eventually approve an application it has made. Modern Realty has applied to amend the Municipal Planning Strategy and the Land Use By-Law to permit small-scale business offices in the medium density residential Main Street zone, and to downzone 550 Main St. to this type of zone.
The matter is part of the town council agenda for Thursday evening (Aug. 13). But so too is a recommendation from the town’s Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) that the application be rejected since it is not in keeping with the Municipal Planning Strategy.
The options council will have at the meeting are to reject the application or to take the application under consideration and proceed to a public participation meeting back at the PAC level. Council doesn’t have the option at its Aug. 13 meeting of approving the application without a public participation meeting having been held at the committee level. In future council could also hold a public hearing, but only if a public participation meeting has been held at the committee level first.
If council votes to refuse the application at it's Aug. 13 meeting, than the issue ends.
Update on this story: At its Aug. 13 town council meeting, council refused the rezoning application made by the local real estate company, Modern Realty. Council said its decision was not about one business but about the bigger picture.
OUTGREW ITS DOWNTOWN SPACE
Modern Realty used to be located in the downtown. Its previous home was a space it rented at 308 Main St. The business, just three years old, has done very well in its infancy. And with the hiring of five additional employees over the years, it had outgrown its downtown space. The business owners say they looked for alternative space in the downtown but didn’t find anything that suited their needs.
“We looked at a few places but the cost for what we needed wasn’t viable,” Higgins says, noting many buildings would require extensive renovating. Size was another issue. “One of the best spaces we found was more than double what we were paying. It just wasn’t feasible.”
And then there was the fact that down the street one of the business owners owned an empty building that used to be a hair salon. So not only was Modern Realty paying rent in the downtown, but one of its owners was paying a mortgage and taxes on another building too. Not only would a move to this building suit the needs of the business, but it would also provide Modern Realty with an asset.
Higgins and Atkinson says when they made an inquiry at the town hall they were told they could be on Main Street, but they were not allowed to be on Starrs Road. Admittedly, they say, it wasn’t a long conversation. But seeing whereas the building was zoned commercial and commercial taxes were being paid on it, they thought all was good to go.
Had it not been for the fact that one of the business owners owned this building, Higgins and Atkinson say they would have kept exploring alternate spaces in the downtown. They wouldn’t have stayed at 308 Main St. Another tenant was found for that property before they made their move.
But when Modern Realty applied for permits for signage at 550 Main St., it was told it isn’t permitted to be located where it is.
The issue has since come up for discussion and debate at several Planning Advisory Committee meetings.
Higgins says she respects the concern people have that approving the application could cause other businesses to say they intend to move as well. But Modern Realty doesn’t see this happening since their application is for professional office use of a certain size at a certain location, and where they are located now there aren’t a lot of other building options for other people to move to.
“It's not opening up the gamut of everyone leaving the downtown,” Higgins says, adding. “We don’t want the downtown to die.”
Still, the business owners feel too many people are just focusing on the ‘We can’t let them out of the downtown’ argument, without looking at what could take place with zoning. “We want to work together to fix this,” Higgins says.
And if the concern is that allowing Modern Realty to be located outside the downtown means others will want to leave the downtown too, the business owners ask: Doesn’t that suggest there is an issue with the downtown?
ABOUT PLANNING AND ZONING
Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood says when it comes to planning and zoning, there are many reasons why rules, like the ones the town has in place, exist.
“We are not alone in having empty storefronts. And while many make fun of the state of our downtown when comparing it to what it was, the fact is we have a downtown. That would not be the case if we did not have such a strong Municipal Planning Strategy that keeps offices and more in the core district,” she says.
The mayor says the belief that the town will adhere to its planning strategy has encouraged many businesses and individuals to invest heavily in the central business district. She says that significant changes to allowable uses would undermine these investments and weaken the strength of the downtown, and, in turn, the town itself.
Also, to have more retail in the downtown the mayor says you need critical mass of people. This is achieved by having more businesses located in the downtown, creating more reasons for the public to come to the downtown.
The mayor says in this particular matter the "dedicated group of volunteers" on the Planning Advisory Committee have discussed this application at five meetings. “They read, studied, discussed, measured the pros and cons and considered everything put before them.”
Still, any decision or recommendation of the committee is not final, the mayor says. The final decision rests with council. Mayor Mood knows that for the public, wading through planning is not an easy thing to do. Nor, she says, is making a decision on this application.
“One of council’s priorities is to be open and inviting to business,” she says. But the mayor also says the town can’t make decisions by just looking at one business in isolation. Still, she says, the town recognizes that applications that come before it can bring "very viable reasons for change."
“Our decisions have to be based on all businesses that would fall within any change and, ultimately, what is best for the entire town,” she says.
The town is actually also in the process of reviewing its Municipal Planning Strategy, although the expected completion date isn’t expected until March 2016.
BUSINESS HOPING SOLUTION CAN BE FOUND
Back at Modern Realty, the business owners hope a solution can be found that works for everyone. The business has been fined $233.95 for violating the provisions of the town’s land use bylaws. It hopes not to see the situation come to a point where the town would render more fines and put a padlock on their property.
Higgins and Atkinson stare out their windows at 550 Main St. and see themselves surrounded by many other businesses and commercial uses. One of their neighbours is a furniture store that used to be located in the downtown. For more than a year the furniture store's former location has sat empty in the downtown, with the exception of a storefront art gallery that set up last summer.
Furniture stores are among the allowable uses in the General Commercial zone where 550 Main St. is located. Some of the other allowable usages are: Retail Shops; Community Markets; Light Service Shops; Personal Service Shops; Internet Web Site Development; Restaurants; Taverns, Lounges and Cabarets; Hotels and Motels; Automobile Service Stations; Cable Television Studios; Laundromat and Banks and Financial Institutions with 200 square feet or less in commercial floor area per lot.
If Modern Realty is told it has to move, the building it is now in will become empty again. But if the business is told it can’t stay where it is, it also doesn’t automatically mean they’ll go back to the downtown. The owners say if they can’t find a location that suits their needs they’ll have to explore options outside of the town.
Above all else, they say, they just want to operate their business, preferrably where it is now, which for them is the ideal location.
“Our business is doing well. We’re from here. We have family here. We employ people from here,” Higgins says. “We literally sell Yarmouth and the town. We brag to our clients about Yarmouth and how great it is. We just want to be able to work with council and the committee members to find a way for all of this to work out.”
