GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After spending the last five months searching for a new place, the owners of La Huasteca said they were met with yet another roadblock to open their restaurant.
"He just said you got a month to move out. So we've been looking for a new location since five months ago," said La Huasteca owner, Salvador Oliveros.
La Hausteca is a family-owned Mexican restaurant that was originally located in the Creston Neighborhood in Grand Rapids on Plainfield Avenue. Back in March the owner, Salvador Oliveros, was told by his landlord that he must terminate his tenancy effective May 1. The restaurant had been open since 2017. Since March, Oliveros has been looking for a new location to move into.
"It's been hard. We found a couple places but we wanted to stay here. This is a place where we wanted to be. We've been here for like, 12 years. So we love the community. We love the people." said Oliveros.
After months of searching, he found a new spot in the Creston Neighborhood located on 1634 Coit Avenue. However, he can't move in just yet. The city has specific zoning ordinances for commercial buildings in residential zone districts that apply to the new location.
"We received an application for what's called a use variance for the property on Coit Avenue. Unfortunately, for the applicant, I suppose, the property is actually located in a residential zone district. In residential zone districts, there's great limitations as to what types of uses can be allowed," said City Planning Director, Kristin Turkelson.
The property has been historically used as a commercial building and the city said there are a lot of elements that make the application for the restaurant appropriate. However, a review by the board of zoning appeals needs to happen before the restaurant can move in. The Creston Neighborhood Association has been trying to help Oliveros secure the building. They want to help him in any way they can.
"Just gathering support of the neighbors, because that's really why this neighborhood is flourishing and doing as well, and that's why we really want to see them succeed, especially with this new location, is really important to us. So we're just going to keep kind of doing whatever we can," said Jenna Nance from the Creston Neighborhood Association.
The meeting to review the application has been rescheduled from September to October 17.