DOVER — A Dover convenience store is in danger of going out of business, and the owner says a city zoning code on signage is partly to blame.

Mike Katz, owner of Katz's Deli and Market at 23 Ham Street, put a sign on Central Avenue advertising his store soon after he opened in January 2015. He said the sign drove customers to the business, located outside the city's commercial district.

“I had many customers coming in every day telling me, ‘We would have driven right past this street, we didn’t know a deli or a store was down here,’” Katz said.

In April, he was told that he needed to take the sign down because it was in violation of a city code saying, “All signs shall be located on the same lot as the uses which they identify with.” Katz claims the sign received several complaints from an anonymous resident.

“I went and took down the sign immediately (after being asked by the city),” Katz said. “Since that day, my sales have been down on average $200 a day. Last month alone, I was down $6,000.”

If nothing changes, Katz says he is “day-to-day” and could go out of business at any point.

Katz went to City Hall to ask if there was any way to work with the city to work around the problem. He was told he could apply for a variance with the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA), but that his request would likely be denied.

According to state law, there are five criteria that must be met for a variance to be granted. Those are: “the variance will not be contrary to the public interest;” “a literal enforcement of the ordinance will result in unnecessary hardship;” “the spirit of the ordinance will be observed;” “substantial justice will be done;” and “the variance would not diminish the value of surrounding properties.”

However, City Zoning Administrator Elena Piekut said, “Hardship is specifically not financial hardship.” Instead, it refers to hardships existing with a piece of property or the physical attributes of a property that cannot be overcome without a variance.

“Hardship is determined to be unique to a piece of property, not to a business,” said Otis Perry, vice chair of the ZBA.

Piekut said that while it is a shame that Katz's store is having financial trouble, she does not believe state law would allow the ZBA to approve a sign variance for the store because the application would likely cite business reasons, not property concerns.

“I don’t think that as a planning staff we would support it,” Piekut said. “I can’t say for sure without an application in front of me, but I don’t think a variance would go through. … Of course, everyone wants to be fair and have good intentions, but unfortunately some people have a property that isn’t very visible, and that’s something that goes along with that piece of property.”

Katz is not planning to apply for a variance because he does not believe it would be approved.

“As a citizen of Dover, I agree that a sign ordinance needs to exist, but I think it needs to be changed to promote business,” Katz said. “… I’m going to do what I can to get on that board and change it.”

Katz employs nine people, all of whom are Dover residents.