More About the Formula Business Law

Article XIV of the city code, "Community Character Preservation," is in the process of being amended. A public hearing on the proposed amendments has been scheduled for Tuesday, June 20, at 6:00 p.m. In the meantime, a business called Clic, which according to its website already has stores in eleven other locations, is planning to open a twelfth location at 314 Warren Street in Hudson.

The situation was discussed briefly at last week's Legal Committee meeting. Councilmember Margaret Morris, who chairs the committee, opened the discussion by saying that it wasn't an issue for the Legal Committee but rather the entire Council should discuss how Article XIV might or should be amended further. Making reference specifically to Clic (without actually naming it), Council president Tom DePietro said, "It is not clear what entity is going in that space. The owner is claiming it is not their regular business, but she just wants to sell antiques there." He went on to say, "If it is a formula business, it will be stopped."

During the course of the discussion, it was suggested that there needed to be some mechanism for identifying formula businesses earlier in the process. The code enforcement office discovered that Clic had more than the maximum number of locations allowed by Article XIV when inquiries were made about a sign permit. Currently, only a change of use requires site plan approval from the Planning Board, which means that a building previously used for a retail business permitted by the code can be used for another retail business permitted by the code without any oversight or intervention. As a consequence, a business can enter into a lease and get very far along in the process of opening before the City discovers it is in violation of Article XIV. It was suggested that change of tenancy be a trigger for site plan review. It was also suggested that, as in other cities, Hudson could require a permit to open a business. In response to suggestions that there needs to be mechanism to stop businesses in violation of Article XIV earlier on, Morris asserted, "It's a business owner's responsibility to do due diligence" and find out what laws exist. DePietro reiterated, "If something sneaks through and doesn't get caught, we will shut it down." 

 

Perhaps the need for further amendments to clarify and strengthen the law will be brought up again in comments at the public hearing on June 20.  

COPYRIGHT 2023 CAROLE OSTERINK