Smoke signals
New hookah bar plans put on hold
Posted on January 28, 2008
Don’t count your chickens just yet hookah lovers — plans for a third Harrisonburg hookah café and kabob house were put on hold last week.
Set to stand at 1400 South Main Street, the property would have been located in an R-3 property zone, which is limited to residential and professional uses. As the café is considered a commercial business, it cannot operate at that location.
At the property owner’s request the Harrisonburg Planning Commission has written up an application to rezone the site, which would allow the retail business to set up shop. Despite these efforts Harrisonburg’s senior planner, Adam Fletcher, said there may be more hurdles in the way.
“Even if they get their property re-zoned, the space is still so small that they might not be able to meet parking requirements,” he said.
The size of the property creates other problems as well. As there are set requirements on how much distance each building must maintain from its property lines, there might not have been enough room for the café.
The café was set to open as part of the Sireen Market Middle Eastern Food and Groceries store, which is currently operating on a minimal level due to its commercial purposes. If the city council approves the rezoning the grocery would not have to move, but if the request is denied it will have to move to a new location.
The store’s owner, Taqwa Obaid has said that she was unaware of the zoning requirements when she opened the grocery store or started plans on the café.
