M&M Bayard Auto Service operator Matthew Valenzuela and employee Juan Pedraza finish out their workday at the auto shop on Railroad Street in Bayard.
Two inoperable vehicles of the roughly 40 stored on the M&M Bayard Auto Service property.
Vehicles and RVs at M&M Bayard Auto Service line Railroad Street, much to the chagrin of several of the business’s neighbors.
After they said multiple interactions with Bayard Mayor Chon Fierro over the last six months did not result in action, Bayard residents Steve and Lori Gabaree reached out to the Daily Press last week about ordinance violations and safety hazards they witnessed at M&M Bayard Auto Service.
The Gabarees, who have lived on Railroad Street for the past 35 years, have been neighbors to the auto shop since its owner, Dave Wilguess, bought the property in 1994 or 1995, according to Wilguess.
M&M Auto, which shop operator Matthew Valenzuela said is licensed as an auto repair shop, is, in the opinion of the Gabarees, operating outside the scope of that license.
The cars on the property “are just junk,” Lori said. “They’re just in pieces, up on blocks and without engines. He has hazardous waste material, junk, salvage that has been brought into the property, mattresses, general trash, piles of debris. He doesn’t have a license for parts sales or salvage. He’s in violation of every ordinance in the business code as far as [an] auto shop is concerned.”
“It’s been going on for many years,” Steve said. “The last two and a half, three years, it’s gotten really bad. It’s become more of just a junkyard than anything else.”
According to the Bayard ordinance, there should be no more than 10 cars at an auto repair shop, Steve said. As of Tuesday evening, there were roughly 40 vehicles on the property, as well as four RVs and one truck camper.
Bayard business owner and volunteer firefighter Aaron Burg agreed with the Gabarees.
“It’s the biggest eyesore and hazard in the entire community,” he said.
Both the Gabarees and Burg emphasized, however, that they don’t want M&M to be shut down — they “just want them to comply with the [Bayard] commercial zoning law of Section 42-223,” Burg said.
“We’re not trying to run this person out of business,” Steve said. “We just expect it to be cleaned up. It’s surrounded by neighborhood. We expect it to be decent.”
Wilguess, on the other hand, disagrees with his neighbors’ assessment of his business.
“When I bought this property, there was no zoning or ordinances in Bayard that stopped this place from doing what it’s doing,” Wilguess said. “Whenever they did the zoning, I was told that they would grandfather it, but I told them I wanted to be noncompliant instead. It was all verbal, but it was agreed that I would be given noncompliant status. Since [M&M Auto] was a business before that ordinance came into effect, the zoning ordinance has no control over this business.”
Bayard Clerk-Treasurer Kristina Ortiz and Councilor Charles Kelly both declined to comment on whether the business is or isn’t subject to city ordinance.
But “the mayor told us that he talked to the city attorney, and the city attorney said there was not a grandfather clause,” Steve said.
Mayor Fierro declined to answer specific questions, and told the Daily Press that “whatever [the Gabarees] are going to do, let them do it, and then if it comes to the city — well, then, we’ll go from there.”
He declined to comment further.
The Gabarees, though, said they have already sent a complaint to City Hall, addressed to both the mayor and council — on Jan. 29.
“I do have a letter I sent to the City Council,” Lori said. “I was hoping that they would call me back and we would get things rolling, but I never heard from anyone.”
The January letter, a copy of which was provided to the Daily Press, details some of the issues the Gabarees were having with the property more than six months ago.
“We have had one overdose resulting in death in one of the shanty RV residences,” it reads. “People are in and out of the RVs all night, and we have had to install security systems due to missing items in the neighborhood. This eyesore is devaluing our properties and the pride we have always felt in living here.”
Two city councilors, Eloy Medina and Kelly, both said they had not been informed about the January letter.
“I do not recall seeing the letter, and there is nothing in the [City Council meeting] minutes regarding the letter,” Medina said. “Going to public input would be the best thing for them to do at this point, because we don’t know what’s going on.”
Mayor Pro Tem Raul Villanueva and Councilor Adrian Ortiz did not return calls seeking comment on the matter by press time early this morning.
“We have been in contact with the mayor just about every week since we sent the letter,” Lori said, adding that after multiple calls, they met with the mayor, Fire Chief Euphemio Gonzalez, former Chief of Police Lee Alirez and a former code enforcement officer on April 8, and again April 29.
“We thought we were making headway, but evidently nothing got done,” Lori said.
“Ultimately, it’s up to [Fierro] to take care of business around here,” Steve added.
“That’s what we elected him for,” Lori continued. “He blames the police chief, but that’s his employee.”
After the Gabarees and Burg both gave thorough accounts of pressing safety issues at M&M Auto that they feel the city needs to address, they each separately highlighted the fact that there is no fence to contain or conceal all the material present on the property.
“I’ve been trying to put a fence in, but the city stops me from putting it in,” Valenzuela said. “They want me to fence it, but then they don’t.”
He said that he had already removed the oil and hazardous material that had been stored on the property.
“I don’t know why the community is coming after me,” Valenzuela said. “I’m here to help my community. People that need a tire and can’t pay, I give it to them and accept payment later. Sometimes people come in and I don’t even charge them. I even went into the high school and made a donation of footballs for the last three years. I employ young workers through the unemployment program, offering them job training.”
“The city has stopped both me and Matt from installing a fence,” Wilguess said, adding that they are waiting for the city to survey the property so that “agreeable property lines” can be established and a fence can be installed for good.
“A privacy fence would be a start,” Lori said, adding that Mayor Fierro spoke to her three years ago at the grocery store, saying the owners were going to put up a fence.
“The city of Bayard is working through the hiring of new employees, and needs to research what work has been previously compiled in regard to M&M Auto and what actions or inactions that have transpired,” Clerk-Treasurer Ortiz said.
She added that her office accepts all municipal complaints as general business, and that complaints need to be filed by the Wednesday prior to council meetings in order to be included on the meeting agenda. She said residents can also voice concerns during public input at City Council meetings.
Hannah Dumas may be reached at [email protected] press.com. Article From & Read More ( Neighbors push for Bayard to enforce law at auto shop - Silver City Daily Press and Independent )
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