A new business is coming to Indianola after the city leaders voted unanimously at its January 13 Board of Aldermen meeting to allow resident Calvin Moton to construct a barbershop on the corner of Roosevelt Street and Garrard Avenue.
The matter had been brought up before the Indianola Area Planning Board, but according to City Inspector Elvis Pernell, they decided to take no action and pass the decision on to the city lawmakers because the property is not currently a part of a commercial zone and would require a city-issued variance.
Alderman Sam Brock asked about the boundary for the commercial zone in that area and was informed that on the east side of Garrard Avenue it extends to Roosevelt Street, but on the west side of the street, where the proposed business will be located, it currently only extends to High Street, which would not encompass Moton’s shop.
Brock also noted that the area was prone to high traffic and asked if the police chief had been consulted regarding congested parking issues that may arise at that intersection. Pernell said he had not spoken with him and referred to the proposed parking plan.
Alderman Ruben Woods asked if the plans met the parking requirements and Pernell said that it did and explained the design for parking.
Chief Edrick Hall was called forward, shown the plans and asked to weigh in on the matter. They discussed the installation of no parking signs in that area only on the west side of Garrard Avenue to make it an enforceable offense in the event motorist decided to park along that stretch.
In his remarks, Pernell also conveyed the specifics regarding the dimensions and layout of the structure and said, “After sketching it off and walking it off, I didn’t see any reasons and I had no objections from anyone in the neighborhood or the surrounding area concerning it.”
Mayor Steve Rosenthal questioned if the restrooms would be handicap accessible and Pernell affirmed that they would. The city inspector added that the addition would be an asset because mobile vendors that foster non-recordable sales often use that corner.
Moton said, “I’m just trying to upgrade the neighborhood, bring revenue to the city of Indianola. To me Indianola is going down, we need to bring Indianola up. Businesses going away, people leaving, we need to bring people back to the neighborhood.”
