The Grays, who attracted national attention in their zoning dispute, argued for an exception to the law that bans using property in residential zones for commercial purposes, which has only been granted one other time in the last 13 years, according to Clearcreek Twp. director of Planning and Zoning Jeff Palmer.
Several neighbors testified against the Gray’s request for the variance, citing the traffic and other alleged disturbances that resulted from the Grays’ self-storage and tree care company, which is located across the county line in a “light industrial” zone in Miami Twp. but must be accessed by the Grays’ residential driveway.
One neighbor compared the driveway that led to the storage facility as “the Indianapolis Speedway” and said that his daughter had been run off the driveway by cars going to the storage numerous times. When Lisa Gray told the board that only around two cars used the driveway every day, someone from the back of the room scoffed and said, “more like 10.”
In 2006, Palmer allegedly told the Grays nothing prohibited them from using the driveway for their business, but then retracted that advice in 2007, which set off a slew of legal battles which the Grays ultimately lost.
“They had initially told us to have the driveway zoned commercial four years ago, which we tried to do, but we then found out we should have applied for a variance,” said Howard Gray. “So we trusted them and they led us down the wrong path.”
Palmer would not comment on the specifics of that case.
To win the variance, the Grays had to prove that enforcing the law would cause “unnecessary hardship,” which they said accurately describes the $100,000 they lost in court fines and income from having to close the businesses since the end of last year.
“We have no funds to make the payments. We’re in debt to the bank. They gave us a loan in good faith and now we can’t meet the mortgage,” said Lisa Gray. “This is our livelihood, our income.”
The variance comes with conditions, according to the Grays’ attorney Jonathan Hung. They must pave the residential driveway, install speed bumps to keep the speed limit to 15 miles per hour, install a controlled access gate where the Clearcreek and Miami Township parcels meet, and replace the current storage advertisement sign with one that’s no bigger than a standard real estate sign. They are required to only permit access to the storage buildings between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.
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