I sell nuclear secrets to the Chinese on the side....is that gonna be a problem?
AIKEN --- For years, there was a grocery store on New Bridge Road.
The small stand sold produce, bread and milk out of what looks like a storage shed. For years, Northside Grocery & Produce went on with business as usual.
Trouble is, it wasn't supposed to be there. And it's not alone.
There could be dozens or hundreds of businesses operating in places they're not supposed to and without county permission, but county officials don't know because most of them stay quiet and out of sight.
When the county does find out, it's often a fight to shut them down.
Authorities say they're violating county law, but supporters say some zoning restrictions go too far.
It could end up with the county revamping zoning laws to fit the nature of part of at least one councilman's district -- the one that includes the New Bridge Road area.
Efforts to obtain comment from the owners of Northside Grocery were unsuccessful. The store is shuttered now.
Phil England, the county's planning director, said the county finds a handful of businesses operating illegally every year, nearly all through complaints from residents. That was the case with Northside Grocery.
Which laws are being broken depends on where the businesses are -- and what business they're running.
Northside Grocery was shut down for not having the proper building permits -- not for violating the zoning, which is now in flux.
Home-based businesses in other parts of the county have also run afoul of Aiken's laws on land use.
The scofflaws range from residents operating auto repair shops out of their homes to landscapers in the wrong places.
In the past couple of years, Mr. England said, a resident was caught running an aluminum siding business out of his backyard -- which was in a residential conservation district, the strictest zoning in the county.
Every morning, Mr. England said, the owner's employees would drive up to his home at the end of the cul-de-sac and get their marching orders for the day.
"That was just blatant," he said.
That business was shut down, but the owner put up a fight, Mr. England explained.
Others are more compliant when they're cited.
What's not allowed isn't too hard to determine. If a resident wants to open a home-based business, Mr. England said, there are simple rules about not operating in detached buildings and maximum amount of square footage.
Some business owners violate the law because they don't find out what's allowed, Mr. England said.
"It's not uncommon for people to start repairing cars in their detached garage or in their attached garage with the door up," Mr. England said.
That usually ends up running afoul of other county laws when cars start being parked haphazardly across the yard.
Anyone wishing to open a home-based business can make sure they're following the law by getting a development permit that says they're in compliance with both the land use and development standards.
It could be easier for those living off Wire Road and in the vicinity of New Bridge Road.
At a town hall meeting earlier this year, residents and business owners in the New Bridge Road area complained that the zoning restrictions were too strict for their area, a rural area northeast of Aiken. Not only does the zoning ban Northside Grocery, but it also doesn't allow new farming, a concern for people who want to add agriculture to their land.
Some easing of those restrictions might be on the horizon.
County Councilman Charles Barton is planning to pitch a new zoning for that area -- a hybrid of land uses custom-fit for just that part of the county that would scale back the land-use prohibitions.
That new zoning could be months away, depending on how it goes over with other council members and when Mr. Barton formally proposes it. Another town hall meeting has been set for Monday to go over the proposal with residents.
Mr. Barton said it's necessary because the current zoning would ban a farmer from putting cows back on his property if he ever took them off.
Reach Sandi Martin at (803) 648-1395, ext. 111, or sandi.martin@augustachronicle.com.
THE RULES
Aiken County doesn't require business licenses if a business opens in the unincorporated area, but it does require that zoning be followed and a development permit be filed. All businesses are also required to register with the county.
IF YOU GO
A town hall meeting has been scheduled for Monday to discuss rezoning properties in the New Bridge Road area, which is zoned residential. Businesses that have opened in the past few years, such as Northside Grocery & Produce, are violating zoning laws.
WHEN & WHERE: Monday, 6 p.m.; county council chambers, 736 Richland Ave., Aiken
Comments
I sell nuclear secrets to the Chinese on the side....is that gonna be a problem?
Whay you, "he who must not be named," and people like you, do NOT realize nor care about is the fact that these types of businesses have a very ADVERSE effect on their neighbor's property values! Cars in yards, because thats where they stopped running, refrigerators, couches and freezers, ad nauseaum on the front porches of their double-wides or in the front yard because they quit being useful is PATHETIC!
EDGEFIELD County, are you LISTENING???????
Long before you local city governments thought you had a right to dictate peoples lives; the individual american citizen was born with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What a concept! Does that mean at the cost of others rights? As a small business owner I deal with a lot of clean fluids and if I kept them at my home it would be unsafe for all my neighbors if I had a leak or lighting hit my storage tanks I would ruin everybodys drinking water. A fire might cause the whole block to blow up. So you see you do have the right to life, liberty and happiness but I have the right to know if I might die in my sleep.
nofrills that is a poor example. that is not the kind of things they are talking about. selling groceries or produce is not harmful to anyone. we have to watch what we let them get away with. i know first hand. we have 6 or 7 of us that get together at my place and work on our race cars. they came with roll backs and was going to tow the cars away because they did not have tags and insurance on them. it had to get ugly before they got it through there stupid heads that there was nothing they could do except go to jail themselves. we are talking 100,000. cars here
We can oust private businesses which have no complaints against them but we cannot deport illegal aliens when we find them? This area is severely retarded.
Successful Business Owner = One who has overcharged their customers and underpaid their employees to the point that they have more money than either one.
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