Restaurant Would Be Phase Two of an Interior Remodel of the Cigar Shop and Lounge

The owner of Karma Tobacco & Cigar Lounge crossed one hurdle Wednesday in his quest to open a restaurant inside his new Merrillville location.

The Merrillville Board of Zoning Appeals agreed to give a favorable recommendation for the project to the town council, which would have the final say.

Owner Dhiren Shah said the restaurant would be phase two of an interior remodel of the cigar shop and lounge, now located at 850 W. 81st Ave. He said he wants to serve beer and wine at the restaurant and has received permits from the state to do so.

Shah said the restaurant would be for cigar smokers and persons 21 and older only, allowing him to abide by state's smoking law.

Shah said he's also looking at turning a large garage at the north end of his property into a bar at a later date, which would be the third phase of his remodeling plans.

The cigar shop was formerly located at 8075 Madison St. and has moved into the former Midwest Tire.

In other matters, the BZA approved improvements and changes requested by two other businesses and Century Plaza and a request to build a new car wash on Meijer Stores property.

Ghassan Mohammed, owner of Aladdin Pita restaurant at 3750 W. 80th Lane, received approval to place a refrigeration unit in the rear of the building. He said the new unit would be less bulky, less costly and easier to maintain than the previous unit. He said placing the cooler behind the building would free up kitchen space.

BZA member Robert Bigelow noted that there currently is a wooden foundation in place where the unit would go that is larger than the base of the refrigeration unit. The BZA agreed there should be a stipulation in the approval that the foundation be reduced to the size of the unit once it's installed.

Arte Emmanoilidis, owner of American Brake and Muffler Shop at 9275 Taft St., received approval to place a freestanding sign for his shop as close to his entranceway as possible. Emmanoilidis said Indiana Department of Transportation won't give him a curb cut on Taft and customers now have to go through an adjacent gas station to get to his building.

"I want the sign as close to my entrance as possible so people can see where the entrance is," he said.

"Of all the cases I've seen while on this board, this is the first with a real hardship that I've seen," said BZA member John Minchuk.

Century Plaza received approval to place digital display messages on two of three signs, one of which will be the newly approved sign north of Staples.

Also, Jason Furr, with Crew Car Wash, received special exception approval to build a car wash on the Meijer Stores property at U.S. 30 and Merrillville Road. The car wash received plan commission approval last week and still must go to the town council for final approval. Source