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ASPEN — A crowd of 20 cheered the city Planning and Zoning Board of Adjustment's unanimous vote Thursday allowing Tim Reed to continue his physical therapy business in Aspen.
Reed's is one of two businesses to win recent appeals in the face of allegations they violate the zoning code in the Service/Commercial/Industrial zone district, which includes Obermeyer Place and the Clark's Market area.
"It's very good news," Reed said. And he promised his friend Jill St. John, who came out in support of Reed, that they'd have a party to celebrate.
Just weeks after Reed opened Aspen Manual Therapy in July, city zoning officer Todd Grange visited Reed because of a neighbor's complaint and deemed Reed's business noncompliant with city zoning.
"It's a very complicated zone district down there," Grange said. "We're under a lot of pressure from high-end businesses trying to move down there ... and we're trying to preserve that area for its intended purposes."
Grange said it wasn't personal - in fact he struggles with the enforcement side of his job, he said. But Grange could not turn a blind eye on what he saw as zoning violations, especially in an area of Aspen set aside for light industrial use and businesses that could not otherwise survive in the town's other high-rent zones: "I'm certainly not trying to target anybody."
Reed appealed because he believed he was within the letter of the code allowing a business serving locals that is neither a health club nor a medical clinic. And with a stack of letters of support, he went before the board Thursday to plead his case.
The board had to decide whether Reed had been given due process, and whether planning administrators exceeded jurisdiction or abused discretion with their claim he was in violation.
Chris Bendon, community development director, made it clear that neither Reed's character nor his business was under scrutiny, just whether he followed code.
"The area is too gray," said Jag Pagnucco, a board member. And while the SCI area calls for light manufacture and repair, Pagnucco asked, "Isn't Tim repair?"
The code allows for yoga businesses and art studios, and Bendon said many others have looked for loopholes: lawyers who said they were in the "legal arts" or hairstylists who called themselves artists.
Bendon worried that allowing any exceptions would bring a flood of rule-benders or anger other Aspen clinics that pay high rents in other zones designated for clinics. Bendon suggested a compromise that would allow Reed to conduct business until the end of his two-year lease, giving city officials time to tighten the code.
But he said the board voted unanimously to uphold Reed's appeal and allow him to stay put.
<b>Taking the fight to City Hall</b>
Grange also wrote a letter to Hassen "Hoss" Dagher, owner of Hoss Fitness near Clark's Market, in September asking him to comply with code or face a citation and fines up to $1,000 per day.
Dagher appealed, claiming he was within SCI code specs. P&Z officials later found a 1996 ordinance proving that Dagher was part of a neighborhood commercial district, not SCI, and ruled he was in compliance.
But a frustrated Dagher, who paid more than $400 for the appeal process and mailings, said he still wanted his day in court.
In a Feb. 26 letter, the board apologized to Dagher, promised to return appeals fees and pulled Dagher off Thursday's agenda.
"They didn't reclassify me; they just found out what my classification was," Dagher said.
"Why doesn't the zoning officer know what the zoning classifications are?
"I'm still angry I had to go through this process even after I proved compliance," Dagher said, claiming that after the zoning board made a mistake, the members tried to sweep it under the rug. Dagher called into question Grange's qualifications for the job.
"Thank goodness I'm guaranteed to remain in business, but I'm not done with the city," Dagher said. He plans to file a small-claims suit for his business losses during the appeals process. And he also plans to run for City Council in May to help change the system "so this doesn't happen to anyone again," he said.
Charles Agar's e-mail address is cagar@aspentimes.com.
Reed's is one of two businesses to win recent appeals in the face of allegations they violate the zoning code in the Service/Commercial/Industrial zone district, which includes Obermeyer Place and the Clark's Market area.
"It's very good news," Reed said. And he promised his friend Jill St. John, who came out in support of Reed, that they'd have a party to celebrate.
Just weeks after Reed opened Aspen Manual Therapy in July, city zoning officer Todd Grange visited Reed because of a neighbor's complaint and deemed Reed's business noncompliant with city zoning.
"It's a very complicated zone district down there," Grange said. "We're under a lot of pressure from high-end businesses trying to move down there ... and we're trying to preserve that area for its intended purposes."
Grange said it wasn't personal - in fact he struggles with the enforcement side of his job, he said. But Grange could not turn a blind eye on what he saw as zoning violations, especially in an area of Aspen set aside for light industrial use and businesses that could not otherwise survive in the town's other high-rent zones: "I'm certainly not trying to target anybody."
Reed appealed because he believed he was within the letter of the code allowing a business serving locals that is neither a health club nor a medical clinic. And with a stack of letters of support, he went before the board Thursday to plead his case.
The board had to decide whether Reed had been given due process, and whether planning administrators exceeded jurisdiction or abused discretion with their claim he was in violation.
Chris Bendon, community development director, made it clear that neither Reed's character nor his business was under scrutiny, just whether he followed code.
"The area is too gray," said Jag Pagnucco, a board member. And while the SCI area calls for light manufacture and repair, Pagnucco asked, "Isn't Tim repair?"
The code allows for yoga businesses and art studios, and Bendon said many others have looked for loopholes: lawyers who said they were in the "legal arts" or hairstylists who called themselves artists.
Bendon worried that allowing any exceptions would bring a flood of rule-benders or anger other Aspen clinics that pay high rents in other zones designated for clinics. Bendon suggested a compromise that would allow Reed to conduct business until the end of his two-year lease, giving city officials time to tighten the code.
But he said the board voted unanimously to uphold Reed's appeal and allow him to stay put.
<b>Taking the fight to City Hall</b>
Grange also wrote a letter to Hassen "Hoss" Dagher, owner of Hoss Fitness near Clark's Market, in September asking him to comply with code or face a citation and fines up to $1,000 per day.
Dagher appealed, claiming he was within SCI code specs. P&Z officials later found a 1996 ordinance proving that Dagher was part of a neighborhood commercial district, not SCI, and ruled he was in compliance.
But a frustrated Dagher, who paid more than $400 for the appeal process and mailings, said he still wanted his day in court.
In a Feb. 26 letter, the board apologized to Dagher, promised to return appeals fees and pulled Dagher off Thursday's agenda.
"They didn't reclassify me; they just found out what my classification was," Dagher said.
"Why doesn't the zoning officer know what the zoning classifications are?
"I'm still angry I had to go through this process even after I proved compliance," Dagher said, claiming that after the zoning board made a mistake, the members tried to sweep it under the rug. Dagher called into question Grange's qualifications for the job.
"Thank goodness I'm guaranteed to remain in business, but I'm not done with the city," Dagher said. He plans to file a small-claims suit for his business losses during the appeals process. And he also plans to run for City Council in May to help change the system "so this doesn't happen to anyone again," he said.
Charles Agar's e-mail address is cagar@aspentimes.com.
