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Warsaw asked Don Doan, owner of Sheradon Enterprises, to keep the public right of way, specifically the sidewalk, clear of lawn equipment for 19 years.
Doan repairs and sells riding and push mowers, tillers, hedge trimmers and like objects. People bring items in for consignment sale, Doan said at Monday's code enforcement hearing. Other things "just show up."
"Well, that's bound to happen when you keep the place looking like a junk yard," said hearing officer Lawrence Clifford about the business at the corner of Market and Union streets. "People will just start leaving their junk."
Clifford ordered Doan to remove all items from the right of way, specifically from the building's north and east walls to the curb and to keep the area clear, in December 2001.
Those items were removed, Doan said, but were replaced by others.
"I took it out, but more came in."
Warsaw building commissioner Todd Slabaugh said he suggested Doan build a 6-foot-high fence in May 2004, as a last-ditch effort to resolve the issue. "We've received no contact, no response," Slabaugh said.
The fence and the outdoor storage would have to be approved by the Warsaw Board of Zoning Appeals.
Slabaugh said a neighbor complained six weeks ago about mowers stored along the south side of the building. "She was irate to the point of contacting an attorney."
Doan said most of the mowers had been removed from that area.
Slabaugh added that Doan had been receiving letters from the city about right of way and safety issues since 1986. He said he has worked for the city for five years and the property has been a problem all that time.
"I tried to make the law crystal clear in my letter to you," Clifford said. "I cited cases from 1889, the 1930s, the 1940s, about right of way laws. This was to show it's not new. It's always been the law.
"Mr. Doan do you read and write the English language?"
Doan responded that he most certainly did.
"I was just checking. I want to be sure, the way you ignore things," Clifford said.
Clifford imposed a $2,500 fine, suspended until Dec. 19, the next code enforcement hearing date. In that time Doan is to remove all items from the right of way by Oct. 31. He is to arrange an appearance at the November BZA meeting. If the fence and outdoor storage is approved for the R-3 zoned property, he is to begin building it the very next day. The area around his business is to be cleaned up and kept clean. The fine will be removed if these items are completed.
"It's not my fine. It's not their fine," Clifford said referring to city representatives, "It's your fine depending on your actions."
"In other words, clean it up and get out," Doan said.
"No. Clean it up and keep it cleaned," Clifford said.
