THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 2, 1994 TAG: 9409020615
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
When David Tillotson walked into 2517 Denning Lane in Western Branch last year, he thought he had found the home of his dreams.
His was not the typical search for the picket-fenced yard, the shady deck or the winding staircase. For Tillotson, 36, it was the 1,900-square-foot garage in the back that hooked him.
In a way, Tillotson said, it was too good: He had been looking for the perfect place to operate a lawn mower repair service from his home. With only four years left until his retirement from the Navy, he was going to convert a longtime family hobby into a source of income for his family of five.
The previous homeowner had operated a woodworking business from the garage, and there was no repair service competition for miles. ``I thought it was too good to be true,'' Tillotson said.
It was.
Responding to a complaint from a passerby about the Tillotson's sign, the Chesapeake Zoning Department ordered the lawn mower doctor to shut down his business.
Though it took him six months and an $8,000 loan to fill the garage with carburetors, mufflers, blades, chains and spark plugs, Tillotson was told on Monday he had 10 days to empty it. Chesapeake's zoning law prohibits residents from operating car and lawn mower repair services from their homes.
``It's infuriating and it doesn't seem fair,'' said Jeanette Tillotson.
Unfair, she said, because she and her husband will lose the primary reason for buying their home in the first place. And infuriating because, after all is said and done, there may be no one to blame but a series of wrong turns and miscommunications.
After assurances from his realty agent that he could open his business, David Tillotson bought the house in September. Two months later, he said, he called the Zoning Department himself and got the OK.
``The guy told me everything was cool,'' Tillotson said. ``He just asked me what was I going to work on and whether the garage was detached.''
At that point, Tillotson thought all that stood between him and his business was a business license that he bought for $30.
Zoning officials say there was much more than that.
``There is no way we would have approved something like that over the phone,'' said Zoning Administrator Chester D. McClain.
``First of all, they would have to have had proof that there had been a business there since 1969, when the zoning ordinance went into effect.'' Businesses operating before the zoning laws were passed were exempted from them through a ``grandfather'' clause.
Even if they could prove that, said Inspections Director Carl E. Hall, it would still not be enough. ``There has to have been a lawn mower repair service there specifically or else the grandfather rule doesn't count.'' Any change of business, Hall said, is subject to zoning restrictions.
Given the confusion surrounding the property, Hall said he would extend the normal 10-day limit. ``There are still missing pieces to this puzzle,'' Hall said. ``But we have to respond to complaints. That's why we're here.''
One missing piece, Hall said, was Brandy Wallace, the Benzie & Associates agent who sold the house. Wallace said she checked with the city before the Tillotsons bought the house. Hall hasn't spoken with her yet, so he isn't sure what she asked city officials, or to whom she spoke.
Wallace said she doesn't recall whom she spoke with, but insists the city said nothing about prohibitions on lawn mower home businesses.
``This is the first time I'm hearing anything about that,'' Wallace said in a phone interview.
``It's an extremely small, old house,'' Wallace said. ``They gave up a lot of modern conveniences so David could run that business. And now they have a house that they wouldn't live in if it weren't for the garage.''
If the city forces the Tillotsons to shut down, Wallace said, they will be losing a lot more than a lawn mower repair man.
``These people love Chesapeake, and the community needs him,'' Wallace said of Tillotson, who is known to repair lawn mowers for the elderly and for local churches at no cost.
Tillotson said that won't change. ``I'll always do stuff for the community,'' he said. ``That's not the point. It's just all the stuff in that garage, and I don't know what the hell I'm going to do with it.''
He also doesn't know how he will replace the business he has lost.
``At this point,'' Tillotson said, ``I'm too old to be flipping burgers at McDonald's.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/Staff
David Tillotson of Chesapeake is stuck with a garage full of
carburetors, mufflers, blades, chains and spark plugs. The city
says he can't repair lawn mowers in a residential zone.
by CNB