GOSHEN —
Local landlord Ron Davidhizar will be allowed the parking he wants, just not all of it.
The Goshen Board of Zoning Appeals voted unanimously Tuesday to allow Davidhizar to pave a driveway in front of the 205/207 Middlebury Street property as wide as the accessory building located there, enough to park three vehicles. He had requested to be allowed to use the full 66 feet available between hedges on one side and a tree on the other side, wider than the building, to provide parking spaces for four to five of his work vans.
The measure was discussed at the board’s June meeting but was tabled automatically when the vote came in 2-1 due to the absence of two members. According to BZA procedures, three positive votes are required for a motion to pass.
During discussion on the item, Planning and Zoning Administrator Joe Hauflaire said allowing the amount of parking spaces Davidhizar requested would be inappropriate, as Davidhizar was arguing to keep the vehicles off the street to not overcrowd already heavy streetside parking there and allowing the full parking would have eliminated some on-street parking.
“It’s kind of self-defeating to allow that full 66 feet of parking,” Hauflaire said.
As no new information was shared, the successful motion was made after only brief discussion and compromise by board members.
After the meeting, Davidhizar shared his disappointment with the board’s decision.
“It is not what is required of other people,” Davidhizar said. “It is being required of me.”
He said he was told last month by the board that he could not park in the front yard setback, but in the very next item, the board approved such parking for a home owned by LaCasa. However, in the request from LaCasa, all of the surrounding homes had similar parking. In the area surrounding Davidhizar’s property, the vast majority of the properties have streetside parking or park in driveways beyond the setbacks. LaCasa’s property is also part of a project to rehabilitate the existing home or build a new home, while Davidhizar’s situation is related only to parking.
Steve Gaines, a local real estate broker who spoke to residents within 300 yards of Davidhizar’s property on his behalf, said he also disagreed with the decision.
“It does appear they are targeting Ron a little more excessively than others,” Gaines said. “I don’t know if it’s because of the current administration or what.”
Davidhizar said all of the residents Gaines spoke with agreed parking should be off the street and on his property. They did not say whether residents would have preferred the vans be parked somewhere entirely different rather than in the yard or in the street.
According to Hauflaire, the Goshen Planning Department has received approximately 10 complaints about Davidhizar’s parking procedures over the course of about 20 years.
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