Politics & Government

Valvoline: Time For A Sunday Change

City Council reconsiders earlier decision to vote down Sunday hours.

A few weeks after the City Council for to have Sunday business hours, the council reversed course Monday and by a 6-0 vote, allowed the move despite continued residential concerns over noise issues. Ward 1 Councilwoman Beth Kistner and Ward 2 Councilman A.J. Wang were absent.

"Valvoline does not practice their business quietly," said Suzanne Harris, who owns a home behind the property and has been a vocal critic of the attempt at additional weekend hours. Her concerns have focused not on the equipment used, but on the volume of employee and customer conversations.

Since the earlier vote, several city council members said they had been out to the area to see and listen for themselves. A number of them said the visit told them the noise from Valvoline alone wasn't the problem. "Even if you got rid of Valvoline totally, you would still hear these noises," said Ward 3 Councilwoman Charlotte D'Alfonso, who indicated her previous vote against Sunday hours had more to do with failure of the property owner to take other site plan measures laid out by the city over the years.

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The property owner appeared Monday night and said he was unaware of those problems.

Ward 4 Councilwoman Jeanne Rhoades agreed that it was unfair to hold Valvoline solely responsible for noise concerns in the area and noted that there was an agreement to open at 10 a.m. on Sundays as opposed to 9 a.m. She did add that she didn't think the city council did an effective job handling the application.

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