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Greyhound Bus Station located in Foxshire Plaza at Hub City Shippers. (By Yvette May/Staff Photographer) |
The Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals has denied a special exception that would have enabled a Greyhound bus stop to continue operating at Foxshire Plaza Shopping Center at 1432 Dual Highway outside of Hagerstown.
The zoning appeals board decision followed a Jan. 4 public hearing, during which residents living in the Foxshire Plaza area spoke out against the station being allowed to operate at the current location.
Nearby residents testified at the public hearing and employees of stores in the plaza, interviewed by The Herald-Mail, described incidents of late-night loitering, littering, theft, drinking in the parking lot, and pubic urination and defecation involving riders using the Greyhound bus stop.
The special exception had been requested by officials of Washco Developments Inc., owner of Foxshire Plaza. Sassan Shaool of Washco said he attended the meeting on behalf of his lessee, Jeff Paules, a Greyhound ticket agent who operates Hub City Shippers out of the plaza.
“They were already on Dual Highway,” Shaool said in a telephone interview. “There’s a need for a bus station in Washington County.”
Foxshire Plaza is zoned Business General, a zoning category that does not permit the operation of a bus station, according to documents from the Washington County Department of Planning and Zoning.
Shaool said he was aware of Paules’ intent when he leased the property.
“I don’t think he was off base by opening a (bus stop) there,” Shaool said. “He feels like he’s being singled out.”
He pointed out that the zoning designation permits a truck terminal, but not a bus stop.
The county was never notified of Hub City Shippers’ intent to operate a bus station out of the parking lot, and learned about the move after complaints were lodged, Assistant County Attorney Kirk Downey said.
“To come in compliance with the zoning ordinance, the use needs to cease,” Downey said.
The Greyhound stop has been at Foxshire Plaza since Nov. 14, 2011, when Hub City Shippers made the move from 354 Dual Highway, Paules said in a recent telephone interview.
Paules said Hub City Shippers became a Greyhound affiliate in December 2010, when the shipping company was at 354 Dual Highway, because the bus liner offered shipping services. Prior to that, the bus station was on Sharpsburg Pike.
Jennifer Smith, director of Washington County plan review and permitting, testified at the Jan. 4 hearing that “parking space may not be adequate for the proposed use, and indicated that a parking study and site plan would be required,” according to the zoning appeals board’s finding of facts.
“She further testified that, pursuant to the building code, 24-hour restroom facilities are not currently available,” the finding of facts said. “She also noted that Hub City Shippers closes at 6 p.m.”
The appeals board, in denying the exception, said: “The appellant failed to meet its burden for a special exception.”
The argument that a bus stop is functionally similar to a truck terminal “is unpersuasive,” the board found. Truck deliveries are “an incidental component of the principal use of the property” and “testimony showed specifically that the parking and traffic facilities at the site were particularly ill-suited to accommodate additional passenger parking and large bus traffic.”
And, the board said, “the record was replete with testimony that showed the adverse effects of this use were particularly acute .... Parking is inadequate, as is the general lack of facilities to accommodate bus passengers, including restroom facilities, waiting facilities and handicapped access.”
As a result, the board found, “prospective passengers are urinating and sleeping in public areas” and “have, on occasion, apparently made lewd comments to shoppers or store employees or otherwise engaged in harassing behavior.”
The zoning appeals board decision followed a Jan. 4 public hearing, during which residents living in the Foxshire Plaza area spoke out against the station being allowed to operate at the current location.
Nearby residents testified at the public hearing and employees of stores in the plaza, interviewed by The Herald-Mail, described incidents of late-night loitering, littering, theft, drinking in the parking lot, and pubic urination and defecation involving riders using the Greyhound bus stop.
The special exception had been requested by officials of Washco Developments Inc., owner of Foxshire Plaza. Sassan Shaool of Washco said he attended the meeting on behalf of his lessee, Jeff Paules, a Greyhound ticket agent who operates Hub City Shippers out of the plaza.
“They were already on Dual Highway,” Shaool said in a telephone interview. “There’s a need for a bus station in Washington County.”
Foxshire Plaza is zoned Business General, a zoning category that does not permit the operation of a bus station, according to documents from the Washington County Department of Planning and Zoning.
Shaool said he was aware of Paules’ intent when he leased the property.
“I don’t think he was off base by opening a (bus stop) there,” Shaool said. “He feels like he’s being singled out.”
He pointed out that the zoning designation permits a truck terminal, but not a bus stop.
The county was never notified of Hub City Shippers’ intent to operate a bus station out of the parking lot, and learned about the move after complaints were lodged, Assistant County Attorney Kirk Downey said.
“To come in compliance with the zoning ordinance, the use needs to cease,” Downey said.
The Greyhound stop has been at Foxshire Plaza since Nov. 14, 2011, when Hub City Shippers made the move from 354 Dual Highway, Paules said in a recent telephone interview.
Paules said Hub City Shippers became a Greyhound affiliate in December 2010, when the shipping company was at 354 Dual Highway, because the bus liner offered shipping services. Prior to that, the bus station was on Sharpsburg Pike.
Jennifer Smith, director of Washington County plan review and permitting, testified at the Jan. 4 hearing that “parking space may not be adequate for the proposed use, and indicated that a parking study and site plan would be required,” according to the zoning appeals board’s finding of facts.
“She further testified that, pursuant to the building code, 24-hour restroom facilities are not currently available,” the finding of facts said. “She also noted that Hub City Shippers closes at 6 p.m.”
The appeals board, in denying the exception, said: “The appellant failed to meet its burden for a special exception.”
The argument that a bus stop is functionally similar to a truck terminal “is unpersuasive,” the board found. Truck deliveries are “an incidental component of the principal use of the property” and “testimony showed specifically that the parking and traffic facilities at the site were particularly ill-suited to accommodate additional passenger parking and large bus traffic.”
And, the board said, “the record was replete with testimony that showed the adverse effects of this use were particularly acute .... Parking is inadequate, as is the general lack of facilities to accommodate bus passengers, including restroom facilities, waiting facilities and handicapped access.”
As a result, the board found, “prospective passengers are urinating and sleeping in public areas” and “have, on occasion, apparently made lewd comments to shoppers or store employees or otherwise engaged in harassing behavior.”
