INDIANAPOLIS – A Broad Ripple business owner is afraid she will be forced to shut down her business after nearly 30 years due to zoning restrictions.
Jenniffer Barnhorst, owner of Broad Ripple Canine Design, said she has been leasing her location for 26 years and repeatedly made offers to purchase the land, but continued to face rejection each time.
She said the family that owns the property said it held sentimental meaning for them, but surprisingly one day, the land was put up for sale with a price tag of $1 million.
“My heart sunk,” said Barnhort. “I want to keep doing what I do. I want to keep all of us together. So, we're looking for another property.”
She ran into another problem – many of the properties Barnhorst wanted to buy were in residential areas, which weren’t zoned for commercial use.
“We found a property on College (Avenue) around 67th street, but because of its residential status, they said it was highly unlikely because there was a house on the right and the left that were still residential,” said Barnhorst.
Instead, she has invested $2,000 per variance application, that if approved could allow her business to be the exception to the zoning rule. However, there is no guarantee an application will be approved.
Barnhorst said she is working with the city to find a new location as her current lease runs until early 2019. If a property sale is completed before then, land owners would give Barnhorst 90 days to leave the space.
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