David Lewis hoped to sell his West Scranton storage building to a buyer who wanted to convert it into a mattress outlet, but they needed a zoning variance to accomplish their goals.
The city zoning board rejected the proposal Sept. 12 during a hearing attended by neighbors who were opposed to having a wholesale/retail mattress store operating seven days a week at the building at 1621 Washburn St.
None too pleased, Mr. Lewis vented to city council on Thursday and claimed the zoning board improperly kowtowed to the neighbors, one of whom was city Controller Roseann Novembrino.
"This hearing was the lowest blow to my family in over 100 years. The sale of the property at 1621 Washburn St. was very vital to my business plan in order to survive," Mr. Lewis told the council. "The biggest kick that I got was the city controller lives next to my property; she got up (at the zoning meeting) and gave very damaging testimony. The testimony was just repetitive with neighbors. It's just beyond words that neighbors have a very, very large impact on how this city is going to grow."
Mrs. Novembrino, who has lived on Washburn Street since 1964, across a street from Mr. Lewis' building that was constructed in 1965, said she "thinks the world of" Mr. Lewis and his family and their storage business. However, having a seven-days-a-week wholesale/retail mattress outlet take over the Washburn Street location would destroy her neighborhood.
She recalled that during the Sept. 12 zoning hearing, "I said, 'I want to make this plain and simple. I'm here tonight because of the home I love and the neighborhood I care about. The last thing I want to see is a commercial business open seven days a week, where the zoning doesn't allow it. Not in our neighborhood, where we're going to be faced with this.'"
Mr. Lewis is president and general manager of L.A. Lewis Moving and Storage, which was founded in 1899 and is a third-generation family business. The Washburn Street zone in question is residential, R-2, and Mr. Lewis was seeking "a continuation of a pre-existing nonconforming use and adding a nonconforming use of wholesale/retail sales," according to his zoning application.
Zoning Board Chairman Jim Williams said the board did not cave into NIMBYism, and it considers each application on its own merits. Neighboring residents or businesses may be heard during any given application, but that does mean they have undue influence over the board, Mr. Williams said.
In the case of Mr. Lewis' application, it was rejected in a 3-0 vote because the proposed buyer was not forthcoming with the board about what kind of mattress operation he would have, Mr. Williams claimed. The board was concerned about used mattresses coming into the facility, he said.
"It was a fair-and-square meeting," Mr. Williams said. "You have to give some weight to the neighbors but not all of the weight. We're not supposed to solely go by that. The person that was buying that building was not honest with the board regarding the mattresses he would sell. He wasn't forthcoming. We can't go and say yes to Mr. Lewis just so he can go and sell the building."
Mr. Lewis disagreed with that assessment and said he believed it was simply the neighbors' opposition that ruled the day. He said the prospective buyer was Robbie Sewah of Mill Bedding. Efforts to reach Mr. Sewah were unsuccessful.
Mr. Lewis said Mr. Sewah sells "factory seconds and discontinued models" of mattresses, some of which he has to repair, but not used ones.
At the council meeting, Councilman Bob McGoff generally agreed with Mr. Lewis and said the zoning board in the past seems to have unduly sided with neighbors, though he was not specific.
"Very often some of these votes are being made basically simply on the influence of outside, being neighbors or other businesses, whatever, and in opposition to what the zoning codes are," Mr. McGoff said. "Rather than making that difficult decision and saying to neighbors, 'What's being proposed is within the law or codes, and therefore we're going to approve it,' they're really voting in opposition to what is legal and what should be done."
Mr. Williams disagreed in an interview Friday and responded, "That aggravates me, that he's telling people that. Mr. McGoff doesn't know what's in my mind or what my opinions are. This man was out of line. The neighbors, although they spoke, didn't overrule anything. I'm not going to listen to Harry across the street just because Harry doesn't want that. I keep it aboveboard. For Mr. McGoff to go running off at the gumbs, he shouldn't have done that."
Mr. McGoff also said the zoning board often does not have a full complement of members at meetings, which may compromise efficiency if quorums can't be obtained, or consistency if members are regularly absent.
"I think that perhaps that we should really take a look at the nature of the zoning board," Mr. McGoff said.
Mr. Williams disagreed again, saying he believes there was only one time in the past few years when a quorum could not be obtained, and that was two months ago when he was absent due to having a lung cancer operation.
Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com