The Waterloo Board of Adjustments on July 22 denied a request to change conditions on a nonconforming convenience store at 926 Lynn Street so it could sell liquor beyond beer and wine, voting 3‑1 to uphold the existing restriction.
Planning staff summarized the request and recommended denial, saying the property is zoned R2 (two‑family residence), is surrounded by residential uses and is classified as low‑density residential on the city’s future land use map (City of Waterloo Comprehensive Plan, adopted Feb. 3, 2003). Staff cited concerns that allowing full liquor sales could increase traffic and congestion, alter the low‑density residential character of the area, and would not conform to the future land use map. Staff also told the board that the site has a history of calls for police service, including business checks, reports of assaults, shoplifting and a recent tobacco‑sale allegation; the staff packet included Waterloo Police Department records.
Rob Duncan, chief of police, told the board he reviewed roughly a year of calls and said many were minor or “business check” entries but that they included incidents such as an assault, shoplifting and an allegation that a clerk sold tobacco to a minor. Duncan said the records were “pretty much typical on all the other calls that I’ve seen within the last year or 2.”
Dilawar Khan, who identified himself as the owner of Speedy Mart at 926 Lynn Street, and several supporters said the store has been a long‑standing community convenience and produced more than 100 petition signatures in favor of allowing liquor sales. Khan said he sought only a small, conditional liquor selection and asked the board to consider neighborhood needs and his investments in the store. Supporters who spoke described the store as a community anchor and urged the board not to use neighborhood crime levels to deny local business investment.
Board members noted the site’s complicated history: the board approved a one‑year temporary variance in 2016 to reestablish a nonconforming use with conditions (hours 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and beer‑and‑wine only) and in May 2017 approved reestablishing the nonconforming grocery/convenience use with the same beer‑and‑wine restriction. At this meeting the board debated whether to deny the request outright or grant a one‑year temporary liquor permit with conditions and then reevaluate.
A motion by Board member John Beckman to deny the variance — citing negative impacts on the neighborhood, traffic concerns, nonconformance with the future land use map, and the site’s law‑enforcement history — was seconded and carried 3‑1. An amendment to instead grant a temporary one‑year permit with the 11 p.m. closing hour and a requirement to return to the board within a year failed on a tie vote.
Chair Jerry Thornberry called the votes. The denial preserves the board’s prior condition restricting sales to beer and wine and leaves the business’s existing hours and conditions in place.
The owner and his supporters said they may pursue other avenues, but no board direction to staff to issue a temporary permit was adopted at the meeting.