Neighborly feelings hit the skids over all-night auto repair efforts

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Mar 25, 2004 by BILL VOGRIN THE GAZETTE

Many nights this winter, Elizabeth Pederson said she couldn't sleep because of all the banging in her neighbor's garage.

A couple of weeks ago, the 86-yearold widow and grandmother grabbed her flashlight and went peeking around the fence of her home on Kenady Circle, in the Park Hill neighborhood south of The Citadel mall.

"It was 2 a.m., and I was trying to find the noise," Pederson said.

What she saw, Pederson said, was an open garage door and her neighbor working on a running car, with three more cars in the garage awaiting repair.

"He repairs cars and sells them," Pederson said. "He even paints them in there. It's a different car every night. He's had hundreds since they moved in three years ago. It's unbelievable you can do this in a residential neighborhood."

Actually, it's illegal to run a car repair, painting or sales business in a residential area, said Pam Brady, city landuse inspector. Day or night.

But it's becoming a bigger and bigger problem in Colorado Springs, Brady said.

The Pederson case is a good example of the trend.

Pederson's neighbor is Ernest Moncada, a Mexican national living here on a work visa, Brady said.

Like many Mexicans who come here, she said, Moncada has found it lucrative to buy junk cars, get them running and ship them back to Mexico for resale.

"They buy cars at police auction or from used car lots," Brady said. "These are cars that nobody wants. Many of them don't run. They take them home and get them running."

Then, Brady said, a halfdozen friends or relatives come from Mexico in a van and each drives one of the cars back, towing a second behind them.

"We've seen huge lines of cars headed for Mexico," Brady said. "It's a growing problem. We're trying to find a way to regulate these guys -- keep them under control. I have at least 15 locations where this is going on. And I know there's a lot more."

And she expects the complaints to start rolling in as the weather warms and people start opening their windows at night. That's because people such as Pederson's neighbor do their work after dark and they do it at home.

Brady said the first time she responded to complaints against Moncada, she found he had six young Hispanic men helping him repair, paint and sell unlicensed cars at the house.

"I told him what he was doing was illegal and he stopped that activity for a while," Brady said, describing how she used an interpreter because he speaks little English.

In response, Moncada covered the windows of his garage to shield neighbors such as Pederson.

Then he got temporary license plates for the cars he brings home. And he identified his helpers as family members simply working on cars.

"Then he said he got a new job and stopped the activity," Brady said. "Now, I think he's doing it on the sly in the middle of the night."

And that makes it hard to catch and enforce violations.

Brady said she doesn't want Pederson and others getting in late- night confrontations. She suggests calling police to report noise and running a camcorder to capture the activity as evidence. Then call zoning officers.

Moncada could not be reached by phone, or visits to the house, for comment.

Midnight repairs are common to the trade, Brady said. Many people don't want to quit because they make so much money on the cars. But it's illegal for many reasons.

First, there's the noise created by car repairs.

Then there's the danger. Spray-painting cars at home, for example, is illegal because of the dangerous fumes and fire hazard it poses.

And there are the environmental issues stemming from oil and solvents used in repair work.

For taxpayers, there's the issue of abandoned vehicles the repair businesses generate.

Often, Brady said, when the moonlight repair teams can't get a car running, they will strip it of any valuable parts, load it with junk and drag it out on the street.

"They leave it for the city to deal with it," Brady said.

Pederson has seen it all from the bedroom window of the home she and her late husband, Owen, built in 1965 before he left for an 18- month tour in Vietnam with the Army.

"This used to be such a nice neighborhood," she said. "In 38 years here, I never had a problem with anyone. Most people don't want to complain. I wouldn't either. But I can't sleep at night."

Tell us about your neighborhood: 636-0193 or bvogrin@gazette.com

TO REPORT ILLEGAL ACTIVITY

If you suspect a neighbor is running an illegal car repair, painting or sales business from their home, there are several places you can call.

Complaints can be made to the land-use inspectors at 385-5905.

Noise complaints can be made to Colorado Springs police substations:

North: Falcon division, 444-7252

West: Gold Hill division, 444-7595

Southeast: Sand Creek division, 444-7268

Code violation complaints can be made at 444-7891 or to report illegally parked or abandoned cars call 444-7706 or 444-7000.

Send a letter detailing the complaint to Colorado Springs Police Code Enforcement, 705 S. Nevada Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Or go online at www.springsgov.com, then follow the link under "Hot Topics" to the Code Enforcement Online Complaint form.