By Bryan Schwartzman
Lynch lives next door to Rosedale Auto Parts on Brookville Boulevard whose parking lot is often filled with large industrial trucks that move heavy loads and cars, some of which do not have license plates.
“I can smell the carbon monoxide in my home when they leave the trucks running,” said Lynch, who works for the U.S. Postal Service.
The auto store sits on the main thoroughfare through Rosedale, but is bordered on three sides by homes on residential side streets.
Lynch said he and his wife are afraid to enter their home at night because their front yard is blocked by four or five cars that are permanently parked against the fence which abuts his property.
He is afraid someone could be lurking between the cars and could easily attack and rob him or his wife when they are leaving or returning to their home.
Lynch said he believes the store rents the parking lot to, among others, the owner of a truck used to clear building materials away from construction sites. Lynch said the construction waste is usually stored in a large junk yard, and having it so close to residential homes constitutes a fire hazard.
Lynch said a garbage compactor truck has also been parked in the lot as well as a garbage-chipper machine, which is slightly bigger than a golf cart and essentially shreds materials, creating a great deal of noise.
Kenny, the manager of the store who would not give his last name, said only that he was a commercial business and was operating within the law. He refused to give his last name or to comment further.
For the past two years Lynch has been calling every city agency from the Police Department, the Department of Buildings, and the Department of Environmental Protection to get the vehicles removed from what appears to be a customer parking lot.
On Dec. 12 the Department of Buildings issued a violation against Rosedale Auto Parts for “illegal use of a parking lot in a residential area,” said Paul Wein, a spokesman for the department.
“You can't rent out the space for commercial vehicles – it's illegal,” said Wein.
He said the department issued a violation because several trucks were illegally parked in the lot. There will be a hearing on the issue on Jan. 23 in front of the Environmental Control Board.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Protection said her office had been contacted several times about noise pollution on the site, but it had not issued any violations.
Lynch actually worked for Rosedale Auto Parts under a different owner until 1993. He said the current ownership has been there for two years.
“I never had that problem before,” he said. “I'm not asking for the impossible.”
Mildred Wilson, whose home also borders the Auto Store, complained that the business was becoming an eyesore.
“With the other owner it was much cleaner,” she said. “The garbage, they should clear it away.”
