A spokesperson for Mayor Jos Wienen says that the municipality has now only granted the permit for renovating the building in the Waarderpolder. It will be available for inspection in the coming weeks, and interested parties can still submit their objections. An operating permit and declaration of tolerance for operating a coffee shop in the building have not yet been issued.
The Industriekring Haarlem represents the interests of entrepreneurs in the Waarderpolder. Chairman Bruno Giebels is not a fan of the arrival of a cannabis sales point. He is concerned about safety and foresees parking nuisance caused by the shop’s customers.
Unrest in the Pentagon
An entrepreneur who works right next to the former fish restaurant understands that the residents of the Vijfhoek would like to see the coffee shop move. “It obviously causes much more inconvenience there,” he says. He doesn’t seem afraid of parking problems. Special parking spaces have already been reserved at the building. “And they say that a guard will come to prevent parking nuisance caused by visitors to that coffee shop.”
Things can’t happen fast enough for the residents of Doelstraat. They complain about scooters that drive back and forth until late in the evening and visitors who make a lot of noise on the street. The residents hope that if the coffee shop does indeed disappear from their street, a different kind of business will take its place.