Henderson muffler shop gets OK over residents’ objections

Valerie Miller

Wednesday, May 6, 1998 | 9:48 a.m.

HENDERSON -- About a dozen citizens were anything but muffled Tuesday as the City Council approved plans for a downtown muffler shop to relocate into their neighborhood.

The Muffler Shop was approved for a half-acre lot on Nevada Way, near the corner of Lake Mead Drive and Boulder Highway. It's one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, dating back to the 1940s. The business is now located on Navy Street in downtown.

Citizens protesting the move noted that the neighborhood is home to many senior citizens with heath problems, and voiced fears that the shop will produce harmful emissions.

"I would prefer that this project be denied until a study on its impact on the air take place," Ellen Stoddard said.

Other citizens raised concerns about traffic and the potential for car accidents.

"I have pictures of cars leaving (the site) and driving the wrong way on Lake Mead Drive," Joseph Wollburg said. "It is just a matter of time before an accident occurs."

Attorney John Marchiano, who represents the owner of The Muffler Shop, Dave Beason, said the business has never had more than 16 customers a day. Traffic, he said, will actually be less than that generated by multi-family housing, for which the neighborhood is currently zoned.

The bay doors will also be kept closed when cars are being worked on to prevent emissions from escaping into the neighborhood, Marchiano added.

Council members agreed with Marchiano that The Muffler Shop would likely cause less problems for the neighborhood than other uses such as multi-family.

Mayor James Gibson said the council carefully considered the residents' concerns.

"The last thing that we want to do is to make the area unliveable," Gibson said.

Councilman David Wood said, "I think that this is a less intense use. We are trying to find a compromise that is best for the neighborhood."

Residents, however, left the meeting bitter about the so-called compromise.

"I don't know how we can get a petition signed by everyone in the neighborhood and they can just ignore it," Jerry Hornjak said.