Citing the need for more flexibility when renting space to commercial tenants, the owners of the Riverworks in St. Jacobs are seeking to ease zoning restrictions on the property.

The zone change application discussed Monday night by Woolwich councillors includes amendments to the site-specific provisions on the property at 1440 King St. N. If approved, the three existing commercial buildings could then be used by a hairdresser, barber or beautician; commercial or trade school; entertainment or recreation facility; private club; or a licensed establishment.

Existing site-specific restrictions on the property date back to the 1980s when municipal-servicing concerns led to exclusions of businesses considered to require more water capacity, manager of planning Jeremy Vink explained.

The amendment requested by Riverworks LP would bring the property more in line with typical C1 zoning in the St. Jacobs core, though the site’s floodplain location does preclude some uses, including any residential component, he added.

Kevin Muir of the Zehr Group, which owns the Riverworks property and is also headquartered there, said the request was sparked by a hairdresser interested in the one vacant space now available there. The expanded list of uses would be helpful down the road for any prospective new tenants.

“We’re just looking essentially for some flexibility for a different range of uses,” he said at this week’s meeting.

There are no plans for redevelopment of the property, Muir added.

In response to a question from Coun. Eric Schwindt about the number of licensed establishments in the village, Vink said the township does not control numbers only whether the business fits the zoning.

“It’s up to the market,” said Vink.