Greyville residents protest against restaurant re-zoning approval amid safety fears
Despite objections from Greyville residents regarding public disturbance and concerns from the eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA) about parking, the municipality approved a restaurant re-zoning application at a council meeting on Thursday.
The municipality’s Economic Development and Planning Committee report on removing parking restrictions and an application to amend the additional controls of the Greyville Special Zone to regularise an existing restaurant/fast food outlet on Lilian Ngoyi Road were approved.
The ETA report explicitly opposed reducing the required parking to nil, stipulating that all parking and development-related vehicles must be accommodated within the property boundaries.
Notwithstanding the transport authority’s stance, the applicant’s justifications for the parking reduction have been deemed substantive. The subject property’s unique circumstance of historically lacking any on-site parking accommodation warrants the requested reduction in parking to nil.
The municipality stated that the reduction in the parking requirements is also viewed as marginal, as the required number of bays is only three due to the small scale of the establishment in question.
The municipality stated that the site will assist economically in the upgrading of the area plus continue to have socio-economic spin-offs and employment opportunities. The proposed amendment to Special Zone is supported as it is consistent with land use trends surrounding the subject property.
eThekwini Ward 27 Councillor Ernest Smith, called for accountability and that businesses are welcome in the city — but not at the expense of the very communities they operate within.
He said the residents of Greyville are not asking for special treatment but for respect and safety.
Residents’ concerns in the petition were:
- Repeated by-law violations,
- Illegal parking and blocked driveways,
- Drinking on the public road,
- Noise and public disturbances,
- Disorderly behaviour late into the night.
Smith stated that the municipality approved business operations in a confined and unsuitable section of road without verifying the impact on a major arterial route.
“This is a failure in planning, oversight, and responsibility. Traffic congestion along Lillian Ngoyi Road has become untenable. This is an arterial route, and it has been compromised because due diligence was not exercised. Metro police resources are being pulled away from critical duties citywide to babysit this one stretch of road. That is a reckless misuse of limited enforcement capacity,” Smith said.
Smith urged the municipality to act decisively, because failure to intervene sent a dangerous message: that communities are secondary, that planning is optional, and that non-compliant businesses can operate with impunity.
zainul.dawood@inl.co.za