By ANDREA POTEET
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – The city council rejected a request for a reimbursement by a business that installed a shower more than a year before an ordinance requiring it for massages was changed.
The city council Monday denied a request by Total Health Foods, 2938 Biddle, for $10,000 in reimbursement for a shower they installed when they moved in in November 2010, to comply with a city ordinance that required showers for businesses that offered massages.
Councilors denied the request after City Attorney William Look reviewed it and said he was not aware of any authority the city had to reimburse a business after a change in ordinance. Councilors also mentioned that reimbursing the business could set a dangerous precedent for other businesses.
“I have a very difficult time reimbursing anyone because there’s an ordinance change that maybe had applied one year ago, two years ago, three years ago,” Councilman James DeSana said. “We cannot set that precedent. We could really open up something that would cost us a lot more money than $10,000.”
At a recent council meeting the owners said they had never used the shower and would have to remove it when they choose to leave the rented building.
Councilors requested the owners, twin sisters Jeannette and Annette Coleman and Kathleen Gunther, submit their request to the Downtown Development Association. The next DDA meeting is April 10.