Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 13, 1992 TAG: 9201130107
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ZONING OFFICIALS DECIDE TOW TRUCK IS ILLEGALLY PARKED
E.B. Broyles has been parking a tow truck overnight at his house in the Garden City neighborhood in Roanoke for several years.Doing so enables him to answer emergency calls quickly - without having to drive across the city to pick up the vehicle.
It's how he makes a living.
But the Garden City Civic League and Roanoke officials say that'll have to change. At the league's request, the city went into the area recently and found Broyles and others in violation of city zoning ordinances.
For Broyles, being asked to move the truck is mainly a matter of inconvenience. Allgood Towing, the company Broyles works for, has a storage lot in Northeast Roanoke, about four miles from where he lives.
"I would have to get into my car, drive over there to get the truck, answer the call, then take the truck back to the lot and drive home," Broyles said.
Broyles, who is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, receives many calls during the night.
He said he had received none complaining about the truck.
Representatives of the Garden City Civic League asked city zoning officials to check out what it thought were zoning violations in the neighborhood - junk cars being stored and commercial vehicles being parked overnight - said Charles Hancock, president of the league. In one case, the cab of a tractor-trailer truck was parked in the neighborhood, he said.
The residents didn't target Broyles or other specific violators, Hancock said. "We are concerned about a number of zoning issues, not just one case."
Soon, Broyles will have to park the tow truck in Allgood's lot or find another place in a commercial or industrial zone to store it overnight.
Zoning Administrator Ron Miller has told Broyles that city zoning laws make it illegal to park the tow truck overnight in a residential neighborhood.
And the city's Board of Zoning Appeals voted last this week to uphold Miller's decision, saying it has no legal basis to overrule him.
"If we grant your request, we would have to let others do it. And pretty soon our neighborhoods would become commercial parking lots," board member Bob Copty told Broyles.
"About all we can do is to give you time to find another location," said Elwood Norris, board chairman.
The city zoning ordinance prohibits all commercial vehicles with a rating larger than three-quarters of a ton from being parked overnight in residential areas. School buses and emergency-service vehicles are exempted.
Miller said he will give Broyles about a month to find another place to park the truck. "In cases where there is a true hardship, we allow people about 30 days to comply. If they need a longer period, we can talk about it."
William Dean, who lives near Broyles, said he doesn't think commercial vehicles should be parked in residential areas. Henry Sayers, one of Broyles' closest neighbors, declined to comment, saying, "I don't want to get involved in it."
Hancock said league members are pleased with the board's decision. "We want to keep our neighborhoods as residential areas, and we think the board's decision will help do that."
Miller said Broyles' case is symptomatic of a larger problem of junk cars and commercial vehicles being stored in residential areas.
"These are the two biggest complaints that we get about zoning violations," he said.
Miller told the board that city officials have cited several other residents in Garden City for zoning violations. "We are going to get them all," he said. "You might have others to come before you on appeal."