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Homeowners With Large Vehicles Stir Debate

Wed Apr 20, 3:44 AM ET U.S. National - AP

By BREE FOWLER, Associated Press Writer

TROY, Mich. - Paul Piscopo wanted a home for his nine cars with plenty of space left over for other vehicles he might buy down the road.

AP Photo

So, while building a house in suburban Detroit, he also put up a garage — a cavernous 6,000-square-foot structure that covers three times as much ground as his home and can hold 28 full-size pickup trucks.

"It's a beautiful garage," Piscopo said, smiling. "It's got all the amenities."

But some of his neighbors disagree, calling it an eyesore. And they are not the only ones raising questions about outsized garages.

As more people buy larger cars and trucks, cities are struggling with how to regulate huge garages while balancing the rights of property owners and nearby residents.

Neighbors have dubbed it the "Monster Garage" and insist Piscopo's hulking sheet metal structure has hurt their property values. They want it torn down.

"You have to see it to believe the disaster," said George Reed, who has lived next door to Piscopo's property for nearly 40 years.

The Troy City Council and the city planning commission met recently to discuss tightening restrictions on similar garages in the future. But it is unlikely any changes would affect Piscopo's property because revisions to city ordinances would affect only new construction projects.

Garages have grown steadily bigger over the last 20 years, prompting communities to review zoning regulations, said Brian Wenzel, chief operating officer of Atwell-Hicks, an Ann Arbor-based development consulting firm that does business in 20 states.

"Debates over restrictions aren't just occurring in the Midwest. They're occurring in places like California and Portland, Oregon, and across the country," he said.

In Schererville, Ind., city officials halted construction of a home in February after noticing its garage door was taller than the city's 9-foot limit. The garage had been designed to accommodate a motor home almost 13 feet tall and 10 feet wide.

The homeowners, whose construction plans had been approved by city officials, were later granted a variance and allowed to continue building.

In suburban Pittsburgh, officials considered a new ordinance that would prohibit attached garages from exceeding 20 percent of a home's total size.

Piscopo said he made every effort to comply with city regulations when he drew up plans for the garage. The city granted him a construction permit in 2003.

Plans for the enormous structure were approved because the building covers less than 30 percent of Piscopo's acre lot and is set back from the road. Only after construction began did neighbors start to complain, he said.

Once they realized the size of Piscopo's project, Reed and another neighbor took their concerns to the City Council but made little progress.

They filed an appeal with the city's zoning board of appeals, claiming the city had wrongfully issued a building permit to Piscopo. A hearing on the appeal is scheduled for Tuesday.

The other neighbor, Tom Trent, maintains that if the board rules in their favor, it could order Piscopo to tear down the whole thing and start from scratch.

That probably would result in a messy legal battle that both sides hope to avoid.

"I don't want to deal with all that," Piscopo said. "It doesn't pay. The only one who wins that way are the lawyers."

Reed said he recently met with a real estate agent who told him his home's proximity to the garage could cut its value by as much as 25 percent, and even then he would have a hard time selling it.

Reed told the City Council and planning commission that the garage "shouldn't have been put there."

"It's kind of destroyed my future security," he said.