Soap Maker to Appeal for Parking Lot

A public hearing will be held Tuesday on a cleaning-solvent factory owner’s appeal to turn a vacant, 1.75-acre parcel into a 25-space parking lot for employees, officials said.

Bob Rosenbaum, president of Mission Kleensweep Products Inc., wants the five-member Board of Zoning Appeals to overturn a city zoning administrator’s denial of a conditional use permit for the property.

The permit would allow Rosenbaum to build the parking lot at 2428 Birkdale St., next to Mission Kleensweep. The land is zoned for single-family homes.

Rosenbaum has said a parking lot would benefit the neighborhood because it will reduce the number of vehicles left on streets.

But a group of Elysian Valley residents oppose the plan, concerned that it is a sign the company plans to expand.

A parking lot packed with vehicles would also create additional space on public streets for large trucks to rest, said Virginia Adams, co-president of the Elysian Valley Property Owners, Renters & Businessmen’s Assn. The trucks deliver cargo for Mission Kleensweep, which manufactures detergents, hand soaps and cleaners for commercial use.

Rosenbaum denied that the trucks would flood the streets throughout the day, adding that deliveries are usually made at the company’s own yard.

“Why would they do that? (Trucks) just want to make a delivery and get out,” he said.

The hearing will be at 9:45 a.m. in City Hall, Room 561 A.