DELTONA, Fla.,None — Some people in Deltona are upset because their neighbors are running car repair shops out of their houses. There have been so many complaints that the city now wants to ban those businesses.
If the ban passes, officials want to start enforcing it soon. By next month, code enforcement could be enforcing the ban at homes where you can see the all the cars parked in the front.
In the city of Deltona, there are dozens of suspected unlicensed auto repair shops.
Now, city leaders are trying to put an end to them by creating an ordinance that would ban such operations.
"The city got a complaint from neighbors who say you guys are running an auto repair shop here, that's not true?" WFTV reporter Blaine Tolison asked resident Grace Mengar.
"No! That's a lie. We never run an auto repair shop," Mengar said.
Recently, the city received complaints from neighbors about the cars crammed into Mengar's driveway and parked on her lawn. Mengar said the cars belong to her family and they sometimes work on them, but not for a business of any kind.
Either way, the city's code enforcement department can't prove whether Mangar or anyone else is running an auto repair shop, which is the biggest challenge for the new ordinance.
Still, the city wants to pass it to prevent neighborhoods from deteriorating.
"People who are obeying the law, we want to try to get that cleaned up because over all it affects neighborhood values," said Lee Lopez, City of Deltona.
The city said there would be no financial impact by enforcing the illegal auto repair businesses. The new ordinance would still let people work on cars in their driveway, but the work can't go any longer than two days.
If passed, the ordinance would get final approval next month and wouldn't affect other types of home businesses in the area.