North Adams Garage Owner Warned Permit May Be Revoked
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The owner of a local garage is being given a last chance to clean up his location and comply with his special permit.
William Gardner of Nite Owl Automotive was told Monday that his special permit could be revoked if he can't keep the number of motor vehicles to 12 at his River Street business.
The Planning Board says the problem has been ongoing over the years and has fined Gardner in the past. Building Inspector William Meranti had been asked at the last meeting to inform the owner that his permit was in peril.
"My discussion [with Gardner] was along the lines of the board's displeasure with the way things have been operating over the years," Meranti told the board on Monday. "The fact that we keep ... maybe not coming into and falling out of compliance with a number of vehicles, the condition of the site, the building itself. ...
"I have heard nothing you know, in a way of a solution with thus far but I'm willing to listen."
Gardner told the board that he's "gotten rid of quite a few cars and I have a plan for the rest of them."
He acknowledged that he might have a problem with scheduling, which leads to too many vehicles waiting for the time and parts. And, he said, sometimes people can't afford to fix their cars immediately if it's a big job and need to take time with payments, or he has trouble finding parts. Plus, he said, his business has taken an uptick lately.
A number of posts on Facebook in the following days spoke to his reasonable rates and willingness to schedule payments for customers with money issues.
Chair Brian Miksic said he had expected more changes since Gardner had been spoken to shortly after last month's meeting.
"I drove by again today and that's what's disappointing to me because we've gone through this many times," he said. "And in the month that since he's spoken to you, I would have hoped to see a lot more changes to what this looks like."
Gardner admitted he was still over the number allowed.
"I believe there's 20something when they left this evening but a couple we're getting picked up," he said.
It would be better if he could get permission for the 18 he had asked for, he said. But Miksic and other planners shook their heads, saying he might have had that by now except that he had continually failed to comply with his existing permit.
"There are so many vehcles here ... it's not like it's 15 cars or 18 cars ... after a month we're still double what we're supposed to be," said Miksic.
Planner Paul Senecal said it was not just the vehicles waiting for service or payment, "it's the unregistered vehicles that are on the lot. It looks like a junk yard and we never approved for a junk yard."
Gardner did clarify that at least one car and a bus were not his responsibility and were parked on an adjacent lot owned by someone else.
Meranti said he would check into that but it didn't cancel Gardner from the responsibility of cars overrunning his own lot or the unkempt look of the property.
The mechanic said the "unkempt" look of the building was not something he was aware of. Meranti said there was a promise to do things that weren't completed and some work was done without permits.
"That could be an agreement between you and your landlord. I don't know that," he said.
Planner Robert Burdick said, "I'd like to see a I'd like to see a definite plan with definite number of days within which you will come into compliance, 60 days, whatever ... And I'd like you to agree to it."
Other planners said they didn't have confidence he'd follow through based on past experience.
"I have a plan for it. I've already made significant changes," said Gardner. "I do have a plan for it. I realized my mistakes that I've made over the years and I am working on that."
Burdick said he felt Gardner could do it. The board voted to place a vote on revoking his permit on next month's agenda, giving him 30 days to come into compliance.
Planners also assured him that he's not the only special permit holder that will be called before them. The Planning Board two years ago was given the authority to revoke permits for businesses that failed to comply with their conditions.
"It's your livelihood and one, we appreciate that and we don't want that to go away," said Miksic. "But also this is a board that's here to set and enforce rules."
