Warren McCord: City wasn’t made aware of store’s stock

The Auburn zoning ordinance does not underlie the controversy over Kalli’s Love Stuff on South College Street as some might believe. The city code addresses the location of “adult entertainment businesses” in relation to other uses (bars, churches, schools, etc.) and the zoning ordinance makes no mention of them.

Section 402 of the zoning ordinance lists the types of land uses permitted in each zoning district in the city. Some uses are permitted by right, meaning they are allowed without planning commission and city council review, provided they meet the required performance standards. Other uses, called conditional uses, have unique impacts and may not be compatible at all locations within a district. These are permitted only after a review by the commission and council and the possible application of additional performance standards.

When applying for a use permit at a specific location, the applicant is required to specify the use for which he is applying. If the use is a permitted use in the district, as specified in Section 402, the use permit is granted.

The applicant for Kalli’s indicated that the business was to be a ladies clothing store. According to Section 402, clothing stores are allowed by right in the commercial development district on South College Street. The ordinance does not differentiate among clothing types to be sold in a clothing store, because the land use impact would be the same regardless of the kind of clothing sold. There is no need for the planning staff to know or to ask what type of clothing will be sold when it receives an application.

I’m not sure how the city would know that Kalli’s would sell something other than what they indicated on its license application.

It is in the city’s best interest to provide some degree of certainty and flexibility to prospective businesses as long as their impacts are mitigated by the performance standards.

Owners of a business interested in locating or relocating in our market want and need to know, with some degree of certainty, where their business can locate before they secure financing and invest in engineering and architectural studies. If all businesses had to go through conditional review in every Auburn location, many would locate in another city in the same market. The zoning ordinance strives for balance to ensure that businesses can locate and operate in concert with the public interest.

The key question to be answered with Kalli’s is: Has the business owner run afoul of the city’s permitting and licensing requirements by representing its use classification as one thing, while operating as another?

Warren McCord is Chair of the Auburn Commercial Development Authority and member and past Chair of the Auburn Planning Commission. He can be reached at .