Military vehicles OK’d for driving, not driveway

Jeffrey Libby

Thursday, Aug. 3, 2000 | 11:10 a.m.

William Stojack can legally park his two armored personnel carriers on any Las Vegas street, but if he wants to park them in his driveway, he'll have to obtain a permit and cover them from view, city officials decided Wednesday.

The unanimous decision came from a City Council stuck between state laws and a local code enforcement officer's interpretation of a city ordinance.

"I have a problem," said Mayor Oscar Goodman. "I agree with (Stojack) philosophically. The government shouldn't be telling you what to do in your own driveway if it's within the law. But the only way we can reverse (the code enforcement officer's) interpretation is if we find it's a clear abuse of discretion."

According to documents filed by Viola Goodwin of the city Planning Department, her office determined that "at the heart of the matter is the definition of the term 'motor vehicle.' "

And because Stojack's two vehicles were designed for military purposes, Goodwin said, they have a purpose "other than transportation. Therefore ... I find that the storage of the 1967 Alvis Saracen and the 1964 Daimler Ferret is not a permitted use."

But as Stojak argued Wednesday, both vehicles are registered and insured with the state as passenger vehicles. He says the troop carriers aren't in storage, he drives them on a near-daily basis.

In fact, Stojack and his vehicles are such a familiar sight at the Starbucks coffee shop at West Charleston Boulevard and Rancho Drive that he gets phone calls there.

Stojack, a retired firefighter and 22-year resident of Las Vegas, told the City Council he is "the neighborhood's favorite dad," noting that kids request his military vehicles for birthday parties. He said even tennis star Andre Agassi had enlisted his services for his annual fund-raising event for the Children's Miracle Network.

Goodwin said the initial citation stemmed from complaints from Stojack's neighbors which led the code office to "consider the military vehicles to be a nuisance and to have a detrimental effect on the neighborhood."

But City Council members could verify only one complaint from one neighbor.

Stojack now must apply for a permit to store no more than two specifed military vehicles at his Mesquite Avenue home. Homeowners in his Twin Lakes subdivision will be notified and allowed to comment on the issuance of that permit. If the planning department chooses to permit the vehicles, they will be required to be covered when not in use.

"If I was in a position to collect Ferraris or Maseratis, I wouldn't be required to cover them," Stojack said.

"It seems as though now the city of Las Vegas is putting itself in the position of deciding what people can and cannot drive," Stojack said. "But if a neighbor buys a new van and paints it neon pink with neon blue stripes and I find it distasteful, it seems to me that my options in this country are (A) don't look at it and (B) don't purchase it."

George Cromer, Stojack's lawyer, said the city's interpretation is wrong.

"The problem is, now they're saying you can park on the street, but you can't park in the driveway. And that's why it's arbitrary and capricious," Cromer said.

"We're going to apply for a permit and see how it goes," Cromer said.