Scott Wickens always wanted to own his own business, so with the Warsaw Board of Zoning Appeal’s approval of his use variance Monday night, he’ll get to open his motorcycle repair shop. Assistant City Planner Tim Dombrosky told the board the request was for a use variance to allow a repair shop at 501 Pope St., which is zoned Commercial 2. Auto repair – which includes motorcycles – is only permitted in C3 and above. He provided to the board some restrictions for motorcycle dealers, which are allowed as a special exception in C2 and C3, that he thought would be comparable to Wickens’ case. On the five criteria that the BZA has to look at when deciding whether to approve or not, Dombrosky pointed out two he really had concerns with: the use and value of the area adjacent to the property will not be affected in a substantially adverse manner; and the strict application for the terms of the zoning ordinance will constitute an unnecessary hardship in the use of the property. He said the industrial building could have a productive use without the exception. He also did say that some provisions could be made so as not to be a nuisance on adjacent property owners. “We didn’t hear from any adjacent neighbors,” Dombrosky said, though they were notified of the petition’s hearing. Board Vice President Rick Keeven asked what the state of the building was, and Dombrosky said it was in good shape to the best of his knowledge. Board member Jeff Johnson asked how long it’s been since anything was in there. Dombrosky said they had a variance request for a woodworking shop in there in 1994 so it’s been a while. In his comments to the BZA, Wickens, 47, said, “I’ve been in classic cars and motorcycles all my life. I learned at an early age how to work on my own vehicles and repair (them). For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a business owner here in Warsaw. I could go outside the city limits, but I love this town, I’ve always loved being here and the people in it. I think the City of Warsaw could benefit from an independent motor shop.” The name of his business is ScottRod Customs LLC. He said he chose the location on Pope Street because it’s economical, close to his home and there’s just not many places available for rent for his type of business, motorcycle repair. It also has a concrete pad and parking area, and it’s gated so it’s “nice and secure,” he said. Wicken said he’s very respectful of people and his surroundings so there won’t be a lot of noise. He stated the corner of Pope and McClellan streets, just about any time of day, has a huge number of cars going through there so two to five extra motorcycles a week won’t cause any hardship on adjacent property owners. Since he works in the medical device industry, Wickens said his bike shop would only be part time anyway, usually in the evenings or Saturdays when he has an appointment. He said all work will be done inside the building. “I do oil changes, accessories, brakes, tire changes, that type of thing,” he stated. He presented signatures from adjacent property owners who were in support of his venture. When asked by Keeven what type of signage he had in mind, Wickens said just vinyl banners, maybe one attached to the building itself and one to the front gate. Keeven said banners “are sort of an issue” so he suggested Wickens talk to the City Planning Department when he got to that point. After some further discussion, BZA member Tammy Dalton said she didn’t see a problem with the request and member Dan Smith agreed. There were no remonstrators against it. Dalton made a motion to approve the request with the stipulation that there be no more than two employees and repairs be limited to motorcycles. The motion was unanimously approved.
