MAHONING COUNTY B.J. Alan asks court for ruling on zoning

The company says it will lose millions of dollars if construction is delayed.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Owners of the B.J. Alan Fireworks Co. are asking a judge to force Beaver Township officials to issue a zoning permit for a new fireworks facility.
A complaint was filed Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court by Cleveland attorney Edward Kancler and is assigned to Judge Jack Durkin.
The dispute centers on the fireworks company's attempts to build a new facility in Beaver Township, replacing one that burned in September.
Zoning inspector Michele Swope said the company filed an application in late November for a site plan review for property off Market Street Extension. Swope rejected the proposal because the manufacture, storage and sale of fireworks are banned in the township.
B.J. Alan's Phantom Fireworks operated a 3,000-square-foot showroom at state Routes 46 and 11 for years before it burned in the fall. But Swope said it was opened long before the fireworks prohibition became part of the township's zoning code.
Now that the business has been destroyed, the company's nonconforming use permit is gone as well.
Kancler said in court documents that the company has met all its legal requirements under the zoning code, so should be issued a permit.
The complaint says banning fireworks sales in the entire township is unconstitutional.
Considering lifting ban
Swope said the township zoning commission is considering a proposal that would lift the fireworks prohibition and allow fireworks stores to operate, but only to sell "novelty" type fireworks.
That, however, is not something that would be in place for at least several weeks. The complaint says the company can't afford to wait that long.
Forcing the company to pursue a zoning permit through the traditional administrative appeals processes would take too long and leave the company unable to use its property for the entire 2004 season, depriving it of revenues "in the millions of dollars," the complaint says.
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.
bjackson@vindy.com