Saturday, August 21, 1999

City gas station breaks city rules

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No permit in residential zone

BY ANNE MICHAUD
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Gwen Heilbrun and her parents brought a complaint against this refueling station. They own adjacent property. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        A new, $440,000 gas station in Hartwell may be demolished because it was constructed without a building permit in a residential zone.

        But this is no ordinary gas station.

        The owner is the city of Cincinnati, which is responsible for policing building permits and zoning codes. The city built the station to fuel police cruisers and other city vehicles.

        “The city ought to apply the same restrictions they apply to everyone else in the world,” said Tim Burke, a lawyer representing gas station neighbors. “The city has got to tear it out.”

        Behind this tale is the city's Fleet Services division, which was in a hurry to meet a federal deadline to eliminate underground gas storage tanks, and a family unafraid to fight City Hall.

        Irwin and Julane Katz and their daughter Gwen Heilbrun have owned the wooded land next to the gas station for 20 years. In January, they were notified that the city planned to move its gas station from the far end of a lot on Galbraith Road closer to the street and their property.

        The city was under an order by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remove or upgrade its 60 underground gas tanks.

        The Katzes protested.

        But at a hearing, city Buildings and Inspections Director William Langevin said the station could be built. He ordered the Fleet Services department to build a 4-foot wall and plant pine trees to soften the effect on neighbors.

        The Katzes appealed, and on Monday flew from their home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for a zoning board hearing.

        “We felt we just couldn't sit by and let them roll over us,” said Mrs. Katz, who lived in Amberley Village for 44 years. “We felt like real Davids going into Goliath's den.”

        The zoning board sided with the Katzes, overturning Mr. Langevin's ruling. The city's lawyer, Peter Heile, said he may appeal the decision in court.

        James Schwab, the manager of Fleet Services who has been overseeing the gas station project, said he was surprised by the decision.

        “We don't know what's going to happen, to be honest,” he said. “I would imagine we're going to fight all we can to keep it. We have a lot invested in it.”

        The station is operating now but still does not have a building permit.

        Mr. Schwab said it was the contractor's responsibility to seek the permit. Apex Environmental Inc., headquartered on the riverfront downtown, built the Galbraith Road station and two others, and is working on a fourth.

        David Wesley, vice president of Apex, said city officials kept assuring him he could continue work and said the zoning change was a formality.

        “We weren't allowed to apply for a building permit until the city figured out what was wrong with the zoning problems,” Mr. Wesley said. “We were told that it wouldn't be a problem.”

        Mr. Wesley said he had been asked to install four stations in four months.

        “There were all these stations going in, and there was a limited amount of time to do that,” Mr. Wesley said. “The zoning hearing kept getting postponed, and they had deadlines to meet with the federal government.”

        The city had known about the U.S. EPA order since 1993. But it did not close its gas stations until 11:30 p.m. on the last day of the federal deadline, Dec. 22, 1998. The city has been fueling police cruisers, fire vehicles, trash haulers and the like under agreement with BP Oil.

       

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