December 9, 2004

Shattuck’s garage: business or blight?

By Lauren Heaton

Jim Shattuck is a saver who would prefer to run his Xenia Avenue auto repair garage the way he’s seen fit for the past 22 years. But the collection of personal antique cars and unlicensed, inoperable vehicles that sit behind his property’s fence have frustrated some who live in the neighborhood behind the service lot.

So it has come to the attention of the Yellow Springs Police Department that Jim’s Service and Towing has been in violation of the Village’s junk car ordinance for the past year.

Police notified Shattuck about the infringement in February and requested that he remove seven junk vehicles from the front of the lot and behind the fenced area.

Shattuck cleaned the visible part of the lot in front, but when police returned in July and found the job had not been completed, they issued another request for 30-day compliance. The following month police issued Shattuck two citations for operating a junkyard, which is a collection of more than one historic or unlicensed, inoperable vehicle, and is a prohibited use under the Village zoning laws.

At the end of summer Shattuck filed an application with the Village for a legal nonconforming use status so that he could keep the vehicles on his lot.

The request to approve Shattuck’s nonconforming use was denied, according to Village planner Phil Hawkey said, who said there “appears to be no grounds on which to issue that.”

Shattuck appealed the Village’s decision and will have a public hearing before the Village Board of Zoning Appeals on Wednesday, Dec. 15, at 7 p.m., at the Bryan Community Center.

The two citations are pending in Xenia Municipal Court, and Shattuck’s hearing is scheduled for Jan. 20, Police Chief Carl Bush said.

Shattuck said that he did what he thought necessary to remove cars from the front of the lot and keep the rest stored behind his fence. He built the fence in 1987 to comply with what Kent Bristol, who was the Village manager at the time, recommended he do to “meet the code’s intent,” according to a letter Bristol wrote to Shattuck that year.

But the fence does not meet the code, which requires that junk vehicles be stored in an enclosed structure with foundation, walls and a roof.

When Shattuck was cited into Greene County court in 1997 for a nearly identical junk car violation, he pleaded no contest and was ordered to keep the property clear for two years.

For many years Shattuck and his son Tim have serviced villagers’ cars, trucks, lawn mowers and other equipment on property they purchased on a land contract in 1979 and will finish paying for in 2006. Shattuck said he does not discriminate against weathered cars and does his best to service whatever his customers bring to him at a reasonable price.

When customers can’t pay for the cars Shattuck tows in, he has habitually disposed of the cars for them by getting a title from the Police Department and taking the vehicle to a junkyard. But earlier this year when he tried to do what he’s always done, police told him state regulations now require that he get the titles from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

It’s a lot of rigmarole to deal with while trying to operate a business, he said. “I don’t feel I’m doing anything wrong, and I don’t know why they’re doing this,” he said. “This is private property, and I ought to have the right to take parts off cars and use them.”

Shattuck would like to have the freedom to serve his customers well and to act at will on his own property, he said. In 2002 he was forced to remove five underground storage tanks left from the days when he sold gasoline. According to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, no contamination was found in the soil, but Shattuck said the removal was expensive and another headache for a busy independent business owner.

Neighbor Jeff Campbell said he thinks the repair shop ought to be run as a repair shop, not as a junkyard that poses potential health and hazardous waste threats.

“Previous Councils have taken the ‘live-and-let-live’ stance, and it doesn’t bother those who don’t have to drive by it every day,” he said. “The main thing for those living on that end of town is, it’s a visual eyesore.”

Campbell’s mother, Becky Campbell, is concerned that having an unsightly business at one of the village’s entryways casts a negative image of Yellow Springs. Having what looks like a junkyard in a residential area could also lower property values in the area and pose a costly cleanup for the Village if the business ever closes, she said.

Police have also received complaints from other neighbors in the area, Bush said.

In the past, police have issued several junk car warnings to Village Automotive, located next door to Jim’s Service, Bush said. But the cars in violation at Village Automotive are generally removed within the 30-day limit.

Shattuck’s frustration has mounted over the years, but, at 61, he is not ready to give up his business. He said he has thought about moving to another location where he might not have to face such hassles, but his customer base is here and this lot is where he started. He still hopes to add another bay and hand the business down to his sons, Tim and Jim Jr.

“I’ve been here for over 20 years, mostly as a family-operated business,” Shattuck said. “I don’t want to retire yet.”