By Brandi Makuski

City leaders on Monday unanimously turned down a request from Justiceworks to open a retail bicycle shop in a former Masonic lodge building located at 1578 Strongs Avenue.

Leaders from Justiceworks had planned to bring the bicycle shop, along with other restorative justice offices as well as the 2617 Club- a local Alcoholics Anonymous group- under one roof for better efficiency. Plans also included a 6- foot fence to help stave off noise.

The 2617 Club currently meets several times a week at an otherwise empty residence on 2617 Main Street. That property is owned by Ministry St. Michael’s and scheduled to be razed for expansion of the parking lot which currently occupies most of that block, meaning that club will have to find another meeting spot.

David James, president of Justiceworks, said the plan was to operate a 1200-1500 square foot retail store for Shifting Gears, a non-profit job training program for criminal offenders who, upon meeting certain criteria, repair and refurbish old bicycles, which are then offered for sale to the public. The bike shop currently operates on Wood Street in a light industrial district.

Mayor Andrew Halverson (left) with Community Development Director Michael Ostrowski.

City Plan Commissioners said they were supportive of a neighborhood bike shop run by Justiceworks, but the proposed location has no room for expansion and limited parking space. Residential neighbors of the property also said they support the program, but don’t want the operation next door.

Bonnie Maher, who operates Dreams of Yesteryear Bed & Breakfast at 1100 Brawley St., said her business is being affected by the noise already coming from the property.

“If you check police records, you’ll see that we’ve actually called in several times because we’ve seen illegal things going on in that area,” Maher said of the building’s parking lot, which she added was largely unseen from the roadway. “It’s usually a creepy, dark, secluded area where some people like to hang out; we’ve seen drug deals go down there, we’ve seen the police be called in. We see and hear everything that happens there.”

Maher said her bed and breakfast brings money into the community from hundreds of visiting guests each year, but it doesn’t take much for the reputation of her business to become tarnished by activity from the adjacent property.

John Munson, who also lives on Brawley St., says he has no problem with the idea of a bike shop but he doesn’t see how parking problems can be resolved in a manner supportive to the non-profit organizations which would move into the building.

“Parking concerns me- if you look there right now, there’s an exercise class there tonight with five cars parked along one end of the building, one parked illegally and two cars tucked back into he corner,” he said. “In the winter time that parking lot is completely filled with snow.”

Mayor Andrew Halverson called the request “unique” because it would require changing zoning rules for a single property within a residential neighborhood zoned R-5, which prohibits retail use.

“Based on the square footage of the building, parking would obviously be substandard by today’s standard, but for your uses, would probably work very well from a practical standpoint, Halverson told James on Monday. “But given the current zoning and the proximity to other single- family homes, the very question of the zoning that’s there and why it was put there in the first place, which was to exclude these kinds of uses regardless philanthropic nature of any organization.”

Halverson also said outside lighting on the property was an issue of concern, and any retail use would naturally increase traffic in the neighborhood.

James said Justiceworks was all about community-building and would work with area residents to solve any problems that would arise, but Commissioners were unmoved by the offer.

“It just doesn’t fit in the neighborhood,” said Commissioner Jerry Moore. “I think this is such a good idea; the bicycle shop, the Justiceworks all together, but I don’t believe this gives them any room to expand the retail outlet. I don’t think it’s a good idea for them to chose this location. It’s a great idea; wrong place.”