BEAVER TOWNSHIP Panel: Allow B.J. Alan store

By VIRGINIA ROSS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NORTH LIMA -- The Beaver Township Zoning Commission is recommending that trustees allow B.J. Alan Fireworks Co. to build a store in the township.
After a public hearing Tuesday, the commission agreed it would be in the township's best interest to recommend a change in its zoning ordinance to eliminate the prohibition of fireworks.
Trustees must schedule a public hearing and vote on the zoning commission's recommendation. If the change is made, it could pave the way for B.J. Alan, based in Youngstown, to rebuild in the township at a proposed site off Market Street Extension.
Destroyed by fire
B.J. Alan's Phantom Fireworks store, a 3,000-square-foot showroom at state Routes 46 and 11, was destroyed by fire in September. The store was opened long before the fireworks prohibition became part of the township's zoning code.
Earlier this year, B.J. Alan asked the township to change zoning for the new facility, arguing that the township prohibits fireworks while the state does not. The company said it is nothing more than a retail store and therefore should be permitted to operate in a commercial and/or industrial area.
Zoning Inspector Michele Swope rejected the proposal because the manufacture, storage and sale of fireworks are banned in the township.
The zoning commission recommended Tuesday that the prohibition be lifted, providing conditions are placed on the retailer, such as requiring the site to be served by an approved central or public water supply system and approved central or public sanitary sewer system.
Earlier this week, B.J. Alan filed a complaint in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to force township officials to issue a zoning permit for a new fireworks facility. The complaint says banning fireworks sales in the entire township is unconstitutional. The lawsuit is still pending.
Township officials have conceded that it will take several weeks for them to lift the ban. The complaint says the company can't afford to wait that long.
An attorney for B.J. Alan told The Vindicator last month that a new store would have to be open by mid-May to accommodate business for the Fourth of July. Construction would have to begin by mid-December for that deadline to be met.