Dayton’s zoning administrator said the shop was in reality a nightclub, featuring a cover charge, late-night hours, a DJ and colorful light displays. Nightclubs are not permitted in that zoning district.
The board tonight denied Hookah Star’s appeal, saying the evidence overwhelmingly showed the shop was not a retail business and operated as an entertainment club.
EARLIER COVERAGE (Oct. 20)
The Downtown Priority Land Use Board has voted in opposition to an appeal filed by a hookah shop that closed in August after a shooting occurred outside.
Hookah Star & Smoke Shop, located at 1243 Wayne Ave., closed after it received a cease-occupancy order from Dayton’s zoning administrator.
The zoning administrator contends the shop operated as a nightclub, in violation of the district’s zoning regulations.
Nimr Ibrahim, the shop’s manager, has challenged the order to the Board of Zoning Appeals and claims the administrator’s characterization of his business is wrong and unfair.
But at Monday’s land use meeting, neighbors and Dayton police said the hookah bar was consistently a source of problems, attracting noise, loitering, littering, drunkenness, drugs, fights, violence and late-night disruptions and large crowds.
The land use board unanimously agreed with the zoning administrator’s decision that the hookah bar was operating as a night club, said Mike Martin, chairman of the board.
The city’s Board of Zoning Appeals is to hear bar’s appeal on Oct. 27.
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