By TONY GUERRERO
Hays Post
ELLIS — The Greyhound Bus stop in Ellis has closed, with the potential of other businesses shutting down.
SJ Singh, owner of the A&W and Ellis Days Inn, managed the bus stop on Second Street and said the city of Ellis has stopped him from operating it.
The bus stop was the only bus service in Ellis County. A bus used to stop at the Golden Ox on Vine Street in Hays, but that business stopped the service.
Ellis County was without bus service for more than a year until Singh introduced Ellis to Greyhound, a relationship that went smoothly for its first six months of establishment.
SEE RELATED STORY: Greyhound bus service returns to county at A&W in Ellis
SEE RELATED STORY: Ellis Greyhound bus stop faces zoning violation
Singh said he is considering pulling A&W and the Days Inn hotel from Ellis in the future but says he will continue operations for now.
"One thing is for sure, I'm not investing any more in Ellis," he said. "Nothing is coming to Ellis anytime soon."
Singh said the Ellis City Council is discouraging investment in commercial ventures.
Singh received a citation on Oct. 17 and was given a court date for Feb. 2. The Ellis bus stop opened in June.
"The city said it's not zoned for a bus stop, and we have to find another place," he said. "There's only two places in Ellis where I can manage the bus stop, and they're both not zoned for it."
According to Ellis City Clerk Amy Burton, Singh didn't have to appear in court after informing the city of the status of his bus stop.
"Before the trial date, the City Attorney received a letter stating the bus stop was no longer in operation. Therefore the case was dismissed," Burton said.
The Ellis bus stop provided transportation to passengers as far as Garden City, Wichita and Kansas City, Singh said.
The closest bus stops are in Abilene and Goodland, both roughly an hour and 50 minutes away from Ellis.
Burton said the city council rejected the proposal to rezone Second Street from residential to commercial.
This would have allowed Singh to continue operating the bus stop and potentially launch another establishment.
"I had another plan to put a car wash in Ellis," Singh said. "I had a plan to put it next to A&W, but I'm not doing it anymore."
Burton said the Ellis City Planning Commission has been working on a recodification of the Ellis zoning districts for more than a year, which could open the doors for the bus stop to resume operations.
"It's very possible that under the recodification, a bus stop will be allowed in the highway service district," she said.
Despite the possible reconsideration, Singh said he will no longer pursue rezoning Second Street and has no interest in restoring the bus stop.
"No one is interested in getting it back, and I'm not interested either, for right now. I did everything to convince the city," he said.
First Call for Help Client Service Specialist Laura Shoaff said they relied on the bus stop for transporting homeless individuals to a Salina shelter.
Shoaff said it became increasingly challenging to offer bus tickets after the bus service left Hays.
"Once it went to Ellis, that became more difficult to provide bus tickets because we also had to find rides to get them to Ellis," she said.
Shoaff said the Hays Police and Ellis County Sheriff's departments helped transport individuals to Ellis, but since the bus stop closure, they have had to find alternatives.
Church volunteers would offer transportation to Salina, a substitute that wouldn't be without safety concerns.
"A lot of times we're helping drug addicts, alcoholics, people that don't have money and steal things. We just don't know them," she said.
Shoaff said individuals seeking First Call for Helps assistance with transportation are generally from outside the state.
Burton said the Ellis County Ministerial Alliance and the Ellis Police Department have provided financial and transportation assistance to individuals within the city.
Singh said it's the city's responsibility to offer alternative transportation.
While disappointed in the city council, Singh said he is thankful for the encouragement he has received.
"There was growing support because people realized that others were moving out of this town," he said. "The city council should think about what's happening in the community."