Two businesses seeking exceptions to the city’s zoning regulations were denied their requests Tuesday, but in both cases Zoning Board officials said licenses for operation had been issued in error by the city for years.

And after hearing a storage facility owner’s appeal to expand, the Vicksburg Zoning Board of Appeals voted to ask the Mayor and Aldermen to amend the city ordinance to allow self-storage units in areas zoned C-4 commercial.

Bill Collins, who along with his wife, Shirley, owns Highway 80 Self Storage, asked to change the zoning on their business at 182 Highway 80 to expand from 276 storage units to 333.

&#8220Our existing units are 80 percent full and we’ve been turning away clients,” Collins said. &#8220I don’t think we’ll have any adverse affect on the public.”

Most board members agreed there would be no adverse affect.

&#8220The area you’re in does help your argument because of the lack of residential property and that you’re almost in the county,” said board member Jack Burrell. But, &#8220If we allow non-conforming use, then we’d be inundated with people wanting non-conforming uses.”

Board chairman Tim Fagerburg said the city should not have issued Collins privilege licenses for years because storage units are not allowed under C-4 zoning in the city ordinance.

&#8220It’s a nonconforming use,” Fagerburg said. &#8220The privilege licenses have been issued in error.”

Collins said he believes it’s time to update the zoning laws, created in 1972.

&#8220I’m not sure self-storage was a known term back then,” he said.

Kimble Goodlow of Magnolia Self-Storage, 3711 U.S. 61 South, opposed Collins’ request.

He said Magnolia Self-Storage received a letter from Dalton McCarty, city zoning administrator, in April stating the company could not build storage units in a C-4 zone. Reading from the letter, Goodlow said storage units in C-4 zones are non-conforming and will most likely not be allowed to expand.

Goodlow said if Collins was granted the special exception, Magnolia Self-Storage wanted the same consideration.

Board members said they saw no reason storage units should not be allowed in C-4 commercial zones, but they could not override the ordinance. In a 4-2 decision, the board denied the request, then unanimously approved a request to the City Board of Mayor and Alderman for an amendment to the zoning ordinance to allow self-storage warehouses in C-4 zones.

In the second case, Michael A. Gates, the owner of Gates Express Mart at 1814 Sky Farm Ave., asked for permission to continue to have a pool table in his business, where he said it has been for at least 20 years.

The table became an issue recently, he said, when McCarty visited his business to renew his privilege license, which had been kept current for years.

McCarty pointed out that pool tables are not allowed in C1 zones.

&#8220We did everything we thought we needed to do,” Gates said.

Like Collins, Gates said he was upset that he was granted annual licenses from the city for several years and was not informed that his use of the property was non-conforming.

&#8220It’s been a part of that revenue since the ’80s,” Gates said.

&#8220It’s been good for the neighborhood and profitable,” Gates said. &#8220It has never been a nuisance.”

North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield attended the meeting in support of Gates’ request. He said he grew up in the neighborhood and still plays pool there today.

&#8220I’m here on his behalf because I don’t want to do anything to hurt his business,” Mayfield said. &#8220This man depends on that table for part of his income. Until you have a problem, don’t penalize him.”

No residents spoke in opposition to Gates’ request.

Board member Lonnie Boykins said he had the same problem with Gates’ request that he did with Collins’. The city ordinance does not allow for that use in that zone, he said.

&#8220According to what we’re looking at you cannot have a pool table in C-1,” he said. &#8220If we say we can allow this then the legal department is going to come back and say this is illegal.”

&#8220If we make an exception for Mr. Gates,” Burrell said, &#8220then every grocery store that wants a pool table is going to be here.”

The board denied Gates’ request in a vote of 5-1.