Law firm calls on city to allow restaurant to keep their drive-thru - WNEM Saginaw
A public interest law firm in Mt. Pleasant has submitted a letter to the city urging them to change a law about allowing the drive-thru to stay open at Taco Boy.
The Institute for Justice law firm sent a letter Tuesday calling on Mt. Pleasant to end the zoning ordinance and allow Taco Boy’s owner Robert Baltierrez to continue operating the restaurant.
According to the letter, Baltierrez did not receive any complaints about safety or traffic into the road since opening the drive-thru window at Taco Boy. Mt. Pleasant officials said he was in violation of a city ordinance because the drive-thru was not operating since the restaurant was built.
Baltierrez applied for an exemption, but the city denied the request.
“Opening the drive-through window saved my business at a time when many business owners were struggling,” Baltierrez said. “If the city does not change its law, I’m scared that I will go out of business.”
The letter says, six of the seven businesses near Taco Boy, including Rite Aid and KFC, use a drive-thru window and do not comply with the city ordinances because they are grandfathered in the rule. The letter argues the application process is uneven and violates the state and country constitutions.
“Robert’s business has not caused traffic jams or other issues. There is no rational reason for the city to deny him the opportunity to run his business,” said IJ Law and Liberty Fellow James Knight, the author of the letter. “This has nothing to do with public safety. It is simply a case of the city using a zoning ordinance to shut down a small business.”
Part of the letter says:
“We thus urge the City to either rehear Mr. Baltierrez’s case and grant him a variance or to amend the ordinance. Doing so will benefit the City’s residents by demonstrating respect for their property rights and keeping Mr. Baltierrez’s landmark local business in the City, a cause that has already gathered tremendous support from the public and local businesses.”
source: https://www.wnem.com/news/law-firm-calls-on-city-to-allow-restaurant-to-keep-their-drive-thru/article_0a7ab318-9423-11ec-b41a-a34258badea1.html
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