Walmer centre faces closure
Main Road complex not zoned for business
CONCERNED business owners, who are still seething after being ordered in October to halt trading at a new R18-million shopping centre in Port Elizabeth, are now assessing the future of their investments after discovering that building plans had not been lodged with the authorities.
The new centre, which has no official name and is situated in Walmer’s Main Road retail strip, opened in March and is now faced with an imminent shutdown.
A municipal building inspector has handed at least 11 tenants an order to cease trading because the two properties the centre stands on are not zoned for business.
However, the tenants, which include popular businesses The 2 Fat Butchers and Bannerton Bakery and Cafe, are still trading, but have expressed concern about their immediate future in the centre where they invested capital to set up shop ahead of the festive season.
When contacted last week, the owner of the centre, Kent Dyson, said the tenants were not at risk of eviction or closure and that the centre had been rezoned from residential to business two about six weeks ago.
Municipal spokesman Mthubanzi Mniki confirmed yesterday that there were zoning problems associated with the centre.
“There are no approved building plans for the centre. All plans were approved for a residential dwelling,” he said.
“Notice has been issued for the illegal alterations and other transgressions on the site.
“The owner and his representatives, and tenants’ lawyers have been engaging with the municipality since the notices to establish the extent of transgression and to pave a way for compliance.”
Most tenants, who wanted to speak out collectively and not as individual businesses, said their main concern was uncertainty around their future.
At least four of the businesses are engaging with lawyers.
Their claims include that they were duped by the landlord, who rented them premises, allegedly without the properties having been zoned for business, and that there are infrastructure problems
Andrew Broughton, of The 2 Fat Butchers, said they had invested R200 000 in their business premises and had been disappointed at developments.
“It was shocking to get the notice out of the blue in October,” he said.
Pro Natural Health Store manageress Linda de Villiers said the business had been through a rough time since tenants were served with the letters.
She confirmed that some of the businesses had, for some months, been withholding their rent.
Dyson said there were a number of complex procedures involved in establishing a centre and that a number of the processes were still under way.
He claimed that about 80% of businesses in the area were operating illegally.
“The tenants that owe rental are just looking for excuses,” he said.
“Some tenants owe up to R50 000 in outstanding rent.”
Dyson acknowledged that plans for the centre had been submitted to the municipality as a technical submission, meaning it had been submitted as a residential property with the intention to seek business rights at a later stage for the sake of expediency.
“Plans have been resubmitted to the council. The council, however, takes 18 months to approve a zoning,” he said.
“I know of examples of the council taking three years. So you can imagine how difficult it is to do business under these conditions.”