HURON — A zoning variance to allow for the expansion of Sunmart Holdings LLC at the former Huron Mall building was approved by the City Commission Monday after a 90-minute hearing and after the owner agreed to conditions from commissioners and the hearing examiner, who heard the request last week.
Most of what Danny Dale had asked for in his variance application already is allowed in the general business district.
But he agreed to install a six-foot-high opaque security fence, with landscaping, rather than a 12-foot-tall one. The taller fence would have required a variance.
And Dale said he would agree to limit the number of hopper bins to two, at a maximum height of 30 feet, rather than 42 feet. They will be built adjacent to the building and blend in.
One of the objections from residential neighbors was the truck traffic in and out of the mall parking lot off Arizona Avenue Southwest. A condition for variance approval is that he relocate the truck entrance to the southwest side of the property on Lincoln Avenue Southwest. Neighbors also complained about trucks parked on Arizona Avenue Southwest.

A request to add signage to the Premier Bankcard portion of the building was approved, as were Dale’s requests for a maintenance shop and greenhouse on the property. Building those two structures would not have required a variance.
Dale said the greenhouse would not be for commercial purposes, but a research facility for organic agricultural production. He said he will invite students and farmers to come view what is grown there.
Neighbors were also concerned about a new opaque fence contributing to a buildup of snow along Arizona Avenue Southwest, and he said he would install a chain link fence in one area so snow would blow across the parking lot.
“We’re trying to be good neighbors so we give them something they don’t mind looking at,” he said of the plan.
While the commission room was full of neighboring residents and about half a dozen letters of objection were filed, Dr. Rick Fuchs and Dr. Mike Fuchs were the only ones to speak in opposition to the variance request.
Rick Fuchs objected to trucks parking in front of his business. Both Fuchs’ said the business belongs in an industrial park and said they were concerned about public safety.
Dale said there is considerable deferred maintenance on the mall building, estimating it to be as much as $1.5 million when he purchased it. There has been no interest in businesses leasing space in the mall and he said he is trying to generate more income.
“We’re definitely trying to make a go of keeping that building alive,” he said.
Asked what it would cost to relocate to another site, Dale said he would estimate it to be between $4 and $5 million.