Henrico motorcycle shop owner philosophical about zoning mixup

When Ken Germain thought about expanding Ken's Cycle Center on Nine Mile Road, the logical place to build was an alley used as his driveway.

A year and a half later, with the economy collapsed to the point that he doesn't want to expand right now, he finally has the rezoning approved by the Henrico County Planning Commission. The Board of Supervisors will vote on it in August.

His situation with an alley-that's-not-an-alley isn't that uncommon in older sections of the county, said Jon Tracy, director of real property.

"We get inquiries quite frequently," Tracy said. Unused alleys can be found "all over, depending on the age of the property and when these things [subdivisions] occurred. It has something to do with . . . how they're handling subdivisions today versus what their practices were back then; what [the Department of] Planning requires today versus what was required back in the'20s or'30s."

Germain's case came with an extra twist. When Germain asked the county to vacate its rights to the alley, Tracy determined that the county didn't have title to the alley, even though the alley showed up on subdivision plats.

"I had a suspicion that I owned it when I had the deed researched," Germain said. "My attorney indicated it was never deeded to the county. . . .

"All of Highland Springs has alleyways that are rarely used. You'll find that along Williamsburg Road. I own some property there. [County officials] just give it up and split the property among the homeowners. They just exist on the map."

Germain said he's glad to get the deed straight, even though "I'm not planning on doing anything at the moment. I had plans, before the economy crashed, to add on to the building."

Ken's Cycle Center has been at 501 E. Nine Mile Road since he bought the property in December 2000. The business opened in 1975 at the Byrd Center near the airport to sell and service used motorcycles. Four years later, it relocated to a different rental property on Nine Mile Road in Highland Springs.

The operation now includes new Schwinn scooters and Suzuki motorcycles, ATVs and scooters, as well as used cycles.

Germain said business is "holding up -- not doing great, but it's holding up.

"People are using their cycles more than they've ever used them. But sales of new ones, financing for the customers is the issue."

Even though he doesn't plan to begin construction any time soon, Germain said he doesn't feel like the county did him a favor by delaying his plans.

"If it was already under way, I would have gone ahead and finished it," he said. "I may consider that in the future. As it is right now, I don't need it enough to put the money in it right now."

Contact Katherine Calos at (804) 649-6433 or .