Las Vegan battles city over storing of military vehicles at his home

Erin Neff

Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2000 | 11:07 a.m.

Bill Stojack can cut an imposing figure when he's cruising around town.

Seated behind the wheel of a 1967 Alvis Saracen armored personnel carrier and running a hand over his shaved head, you might mistakenly think he's on the way to plow through the Starbucks instead of just parking and running in for a latte.

Stojack loves military vehicles. He studies them, buys them, restores them and likes to show them off.

So he's more than a little upset that a city of Las Vegas planner has denied him the right to park two of his prized possessions outside his Mesquite Avenue home.

In February a city code enforcement officer issued Stojack a notice that he would need a special use permit to continue "storing" military vehicles at his Mesquite Avenue home.

The problem, Stojack says, is that he isn't storing them.

"The vehicles are in daily use," said Stojack, a retired Clark County firefighter who has lived in his home for 22 years. "They're registered, and insured and I don't see what the problem is."

City code states: "Motor vehicles ... which are not designed or used for racing or for purposes other than transportation" may be stored or repaired on any residential street.

Stojack does use his Alvis Saracen and his 1964 Daimler Ferret as transportation.

But planning spokeswoman Cynthia Sell said that fact alone doesn't give Stojack the right to keep the vehicles in his driveway.

The code also states the vehicles may be stored "provided they do not constitute a nuisance, health or fire hazard ... and do not have a detrimental effect on the neighborhood."

"There have been complaints from the neighborhood," Sell said.

Stojack says he also has four or five neighbors who support his case.

"Is the city of Las Vegas in a position to dictate what I drive?" he asked.

In June Planning Supervisor Viola Goodwin decided that Stojack was not permitted to keep the vehicles at his home.

The 10.2-ton Saracen is a wheeled, armored transport measuring more than 16 feet long. It was used by British troops in Cyprus and Northern Ireland.

The Ferret, which Stojack calls his "trick" sports car, is a smaller, more flexible vehicle.

Stojack appealed Goodwin's decision to the City Council, hiring attorney George Comer to represent him.

Comer alleges Goodwin's decision relies on a city code that does not include a description of Stojack's type of vehicles. As a result, Comer suggests the state law supercedes the local code. The state defines them as passenger vehicles.

Stojack, who is tracing his Saracen's origin through the British Armor Museum, is an active member in the Military Vehicle Preservation Association.

He said he hopes the City Council overturns Goodwin's decision.

"If I get a bad decision on this from the City Council, we'll sue for an arbitrary and capricious decision, because it appears to me as though they're singling me out."