Saw this in my local paper. Does it seem like complainer is anti-gun?
Why'd the newspaper (liberal Carbondale, home of Southern Illinois University) emphasize the gun shop and not just a business?
Gun shop in Marion residential area irks neighbor
By Becky Malkovich, The Southern
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 10:01 AM CST
MARION - Good fences may make good neighbors, as poet Robert Frost wrote.
Operating a gun shop in a neighborhood zoned residential may not.
That's the issue coming between long-time neighbors John Tucker and Thomas Wimberly, who live side-by-side on a quiet cul-de-sac in Marion.
Tucker operates a small gun shop out of his residence that caters mostly to law enforcement personnel. Wimberly lives next door in the house he moved into in 1975.
"There are strangers carrying guns in and out all day and coming to my door, wanting to know where the gun and ammo dealer is," Wimberly said. "They park in front of my house, blocking my mailbox so I can't get my mail. It's constant."
Wimberly said has no beef with Tucker, who has been his neighbor since about 1978.
"I think at first he did it as a hobby, but in the past few years the traffic has picked up immensely," Wimberly said. "All I want is for the city to enforce the codes they've got, otherwise, why have them?"
He said he is concerned that having a gun and ammo dealer or any commercial business next door, could lower the value of his property.
His repeated complaints to city officials have fallen on deaf ears, Wimberly said.
Tucker said he is in possession of all licenses and permits necessary to operate his business and is in compliance with the city ordinances.
"He is the only guy who complained," Tucker said. "If there is something else I need to be doing, I'd be happy to do it, but the city says I've done what I need to do to be legal."
The neighborhood is zoned R-1, Marion Director of Code Enforcement Jim Phemister said, meaning it is intended for single-family residences only.
However, Phemister said, the ordinance creating the R-1 zone was adopted in 1987, long after Tucker moved into the neighborhood and began his part-time business.
"As far as I'm concerned, he is grandfathered in," Phemister said of Tucker's retail business. "I don't intend to do anything to close a 30-year-old business because of one neighbor's complaint. This is the first complaint we've received in all these years. He has all his licenses and permits, so he is legal."
Wimberly contends the city had an ordinance in place in 1972, but Phemister said the 1987 ordinance superseded that one.
"The 1987 code is what I go by," Phemister said. "There are a lot of small businesses in R-1 (zoned areas) that have been grandfathered in."
He said Wimberly has the option of going to the city council meeting to air his disagreement with Phemister's decision.
Why'd the newspaper (liberal Carbondale, home of Southern Illinois University) emphasize the gun shop and not just a business?
Gun shop in Marion residential area irks neighbor
By Becky Malkovich, The Southern
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 10:01 AM CST
MARION - Good fences may make good neighbors, as poet Robert Frost wrote.
Operating a gun shop in a neighborhood zoned residential may not.
That's the issue coming between long-time neighbors John Tucker and Thomas Wimberly, who live side-by-side on a quiet cul-de-sac in Marion.
Tucker operates a small gun shop out of his residence that caters mostly to law enforcement personnel. Wimberly lives next door in the house he moved into in 1975.
"There are strangers carrying guns in and out all day and coming to my door, wanting to know where the gun and ammo dealer is," Wimberly said. "They park in front of my house, blocking my mailbox so I can't get my mail. It's constant."
Wimberly said has no beef with Tucker, who has been his neighbor since about 1978.
"I think at first he did it as a hobby, but in the past few years the traffic has picked up immensely," Wimberly said. "All I want is for the city to enforce the codes they've got, otherwise, why have them?"
He said he is concerned that having a gun and ammo dealer or any commercial business next door, could lower the value of his property.
His repeated complaints to city officials have fallen on deaf ears, Wimberly said.
Tucker said he is in possession of all licenses and permits necessary to operate his business and is in compliance with the city ordinances.
"He is the only guy who complained," Tucker said. "If there is something else I need to be doing, I'd be happy to do it, but the city says I've done what I need to do to be legal."
The neighborhood is zoned R-1, Marion Director of Code Enforcement Jim Phemister said, meaning it is intended for single-family residences only.
However, Phemister said, the ordinance creating the R-1 zone was adopted in 1987, long after Tucker moved into the neighborhood and began his part-time business.
"As far as I'm concerned, he is grandfathered in," Phemister said of Tucker's retail business. "I don't intend to do anything to close a 30-year-old business because of one neighbor's complaint. This is the first complaint we've received in all these years. He has all his licenses and permits, so he is legal."
Wimberly contends the city had an ordinance in place in 1972, but Phemister said the 1987 ordinance superseded that one.
"The 1987 code is what I go by," Phemister said. "There are a lot of small businesses in R-1 (zoned areas) that have been grandfathered in."
He said Wimberly has the option of going to the city council meeting to air his disagreement with Phemister's decision.
