Council Postpones Decision On Rezoning Shipley’s

The owner of Shipley’s Donuts, along with supporters of a Potbelly sandwich shop proposed for the location, hoped for approval from West U City Council last night, but will have to wait for a decision until May 24.

West U City Council voted to leave the public hearing open for the rezoning of Shipley’s Donuts, 5800 Kirby, from a townhome district to a commercial district. Shipley’s has been considered a townhome district since 1974, but has acted as a commercial property. The application for rezoning the property to a commercial district would allow any kind of commercial property to be built there, such as a liquor store or an office building. The broad assessment of the zoning category is what bothered many city council members last night.

Reid Wilson, an attorney working with owner Bob Orkin of Kirby Retail Fund Ltd., said the concerns city council addressed in the public hearing held last night, hadn’t come up as an issue before.

“The only issue that’s really come up is parking. This is not a strong townhome site,” Wilson said. “It’s highly unlikely that you’d have a tall building or a liquor store. We believe it’s going to be built.”

Councilman George Boehme made the point that if they approved the zoning district as commercial, anything could be built there.

“They’re more than hypothetical. They’re very real,” Boehme said. “It can be a liquor store. It can be a two-story office building. You’re asking council to pass a whole lot more.”

Boehme said he is all for the proposed plan, but he wishes the council had a lesser zoning category.

“I thought the public hearing was premature,” Councilman Steven Segal said. “It’s all part of a bigger issue.”

Mayor Bob Kelly was in favor of approving the zoning changes at last night’s meeting.

“We owe these people a decision tonight,” he said. “It’s kind of blindsiding these guys with these problems.”

Council decided to give Kirby Retail Fund Ltd. some time to think over what was discussed in the public hearing so they can come back during their next meeting and address their concerns.

“If they come back here with restrictions for these issues, I will be all for building Potbelly’s,” Boehme said.

Several West U residents addressed the council during the public hearing with their opinions about the proposed Potbelly Sandwich Works. Some people were there in support of Bob Orkin, while others were still concerned about parking issues.

“It [Potbelly’s] will add to the West U sense of community,” said Bob Brownfield, a resident and friend of Bob Orkin. “If he says he will do something, he will do it.”

David Kyle, a resident who lives in the 2600 block of Tangley, said he was concerned about people parking in front of their homes.

Kyle told council that property along Kirby is not mostly commercial. He said streets impacted by Kirby run perpendicular. North of Tangley, two homes per street (11 homes) is affected by commercial and over 34 homes on Lake are bound by Kirby property. He said he hopes council will look out for nearby homeowners.

Bob Creager, a resident who lives in the 2700 block of Tangley, is in favor of Potbelly’s getting built but he is still concerned about parking.

“Since we moved to Tangley we’ve been shocked by the amount of traffic,” he said. “I would like to see the property improved.”

Creager told council that they have a tough decision to make.

The public hearing will stay open until the next city council meeting on May 24.