Auto Dealer Cited Second Time

A North Monroe car repair and dealership has again been cited by zoning officers for using public streets to sell cars advertised in Wheel Deals.

Kgan Automotive, 2904 N. Monroe, was cited for the second time by city police and code enforcement officers who visited the property July 12 with Wheel Deals in hand.

“I held up the magazine and he had seven cars parked there. He seems to feel he has some right to use the city street,” said Deborah Logan, a code enforcement officer serving northwest Spokane.

Kgan owner Terry Feidt was written a citation that carries a $50 fine. The next violation will be $237, Logan said.

Residents living around the business in the Emerson-Garfield neighborhood contend the city is being too lenient in its enforcement of laws that prohibit commercial activity on public property.

The neighbors said the abuses at Kgan Automotive have been flagrant and hurt homeowners along Cleveland Avenue west of the business.

Residents said the situation improved this week, except that when Kgan pulled the “for sale” cars onto its lot, it moved cars set for service onto Cleveland Avenue to make room.

Mechanics from Kgan walked to and from those cars one afternoon this week, pulling them into the service garage as needed, residents said.

Logan said even parking cars for service on the street is illegal, but she would have a hard time writing a citation.

“It’s very hard to prove unless I were to sit there all day and watch him pull them into the garage. It may take a lot of work on my part but I may do it,” she said.

Feidt acknowledges he has a problem and is in violation. He also said he’s trying to comply by moving cars inside at night and parking more “for sale” cars at his body shop on East Trent and at the home of a relative.

The 6,000-square-foot garage he purchased in 1991 takes up almost the entire lot, which doesn’t leave him much room for outside parking, he said.

On a tour of the business, Feidt pointed to eight cars left by customers for which he is trying to get title. Because those are parked inside there is less room for customer cars awaiting service.

He doesn’t see the harm in parking cars on the street that are awaiting service. “They aren’t junkers,” he said, “and everything goes inside at night.”

The owner added that every auto dealer on Monroe does the same thing, but he’s cited only because of neighbor complaints.

“I’m not saying I’m not in violation, but I’m doing the best I can. I’m not going to close up. I’ve got $300,000 to $400,000 invested in this business. I’m not going to walk away and go someplace else,” he said.

But neighbors say they will continue to file complaints until the business does just that or complies with the law.

“It’s not unusual for me to come out and count 29 cars of his. He’ll scatter them throughout the block,” said one neighbor. “Our block is his wrecking yard.”

, DataTimes