Dickinson business owners may be off hook for road, parking lot paving

Talk about it

Dickinson Planning and Zoning Commission members think it would be a bad idea to force business owners to pave gravel and dirt roads in city limits, they said during a Wednesday meeting at City Hall.

“We are talking about people who have been here over 40 years,” Commission Vice Chairman Tracy Tooz said. “I think it is wrong to go in there and put that burden on them. It is a very expensive burden.”

New businesses must have paved parking lots. City Planner Ed Courton said existing businesses would be reluctant to follow an ordinance because they were there before it was mandatory.

“Nobody else has any will to conform to those standards because they are grandfathered in,” he said. “They will never come into compliance.”

Tooz also said it would affect customers. To cover the cost of renovations, businesses would raise prices. Tooz also said that businesses are struggling to pay workers enough money to compete with oil field wages, and forcing them to spend money on pavement may break them.

City Commission Vice President Gene Jackson suggested giving businesses an opportunity rather than forcing them to pave the lots. He also said the businesses should have the chance to meet and discuss the subject.

“A business may say they may do it if you ask them,” Jackson said. “Have a meeting. Just make people aware.”

Tags: planning and zoning commission, parking lot, news, dickinson, gravel, business, pave, local