Neighbors Try To Shut Down One Man’s Amazing Garage. Judge Shuts Them Down Instead.

Here’s your feel good story of the day. If you missed it a few weeks ago, it was reported that a man named Charles Williams had created what can only be described as a dream garage in his own home. His neighbors tried to shut him down. They failed.

Williams, a wheelchair bound auto enthusiast, sold some of his property back in 2007 to his now neighbor. He used that money to create a haven for cars via a custom garage. The garage is 1920 square feet and is bigger than most normal homes. It’s incredible. However, Williams was recently sued by his neighbor that he sold the land to. What was the reasoning behind this? Margaret Foulke and her partner, George Defrehn, cited that the garage was built illegally and that the garage is running an illegal auto repair business.

The Cape Gazette has the story on this entire issue.

So really these neighbors are attempting to prove that Williams is letting people use his garage for free as an illegal repair facility. Williams, crippled in 1993 from a freak accident, built the garage because he loves cars not because he’s trying to screw over his neighbors and give out free lift time.

So the judge responded to the neighbors in kind.

“The honorable Judge Sam Glasscock just issued his opinion denying all further claims against Williams.”

I conclude that the provisions of the Zoning Code that the Plaintiffs allege Williams has violated are not Code provisions intended to protect their safety. Thus, violations of those Code provisions, if such violations exist, are insufficient to support a finding of nuisance per se. …

For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs’ request for an injunction to remove Defendant’s Pole Building is DENIED. Plaintiffs’ request to enjoin the use of that building for the non-commercial enjoyment of the Defendant, by its use for hobby auto maintenance and repair, is DENIED. Plaintiffs’ request that I order the Defendant to remove the ornamental signs on his property is DENIED. The Plaintiffs have failed to establish that the Defendant has created a nuisance per se, and no relief under that theory is available to the Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs’ request that the Defendant pay their legal fees is DENIED. The parties should provide me with a form of Order encompassing the findings of this Memorandum Opinion together with those in my Memorandum Opinion of June 23, 2016.

The judge said hell no to all claims and Williams and all gear heads are rejoicing today. Thankfully this one has a happy ending, but there are countless people out there that hate on gear heads for noise complaints or other asinine reasons. This is a win for all of us.

(Source: Jalopnik)