A number of small scale concerns got city officials’ attentionas the mayor and board of aldermen met Wednesday instead of Tuesdaybecause of the New Year’s holiday.

Gene Simmons Jr., of Homestead Auto Sales, spoke to the boardabout recent complaints involving the automobile dealership onBrookway Boulevard. Since the business opened in 1996, Simmons saidthere seemed to be “constant confusion” over use of theproperty.

“Every time we’ve gotten a complaint, we’ve tried to comply,”Simmons said, although he added that most had been second- orthird-hand complaints.

The latest complaints involve vehicle parking on the sidewalkand zoning separation issues. Simmons indicated there was limitedparking for customers, many of whom come from out of town.

“We don’t have much power to control traffic that comes to usbecause of the narrow frontage there,” said Simmons, who suggestedpossibly leasing unpaved city street right of way property thatborders the business on the west.

Simmons touted the dealership’s impact on the city economy andsaid the question was whether it was wanted in Brookhaven.

“If not, we can go somewhere else,” he said.

Simmons indicated that most of the complaints had come from oneperson, who was not identified. He said other neighbors had noproblems with the business, which has tried to address complaintsthe best way possible.

“We just want to get along,” Simmons said.

Regarding commercial and residential property separation, afence and gate were put up behind the business between it andresidential property on West Monticello Street after city officialscontacted the business in November.

Because the city street right of way provides a buffer zonebetween the commercial property and residential property on thewest, a fence on that side is not required. However, City AttorneyJoe Fernald indicated one would be helpful in addressing somelingering concerns, which include garbage dumping in the area.

“A fence on the west would go a long way toward addressing a lotof the problems,” Fernald said.

Following the discussion, Simmons was to talk to Jim Elliott,who owns the property where the dealership is located, about apossible fence or other ways to address the situation. Fernald wasgoing to conduct further research and make a recommendation to theboard of aldermen at its next meeting.

In other business, James Smith, of 303 Noble Dr., sought removalof a stop sign that was put up at the Diane Drive and Diane Streetintersections about six weeks ago. With other signs in theneighborhood, Smith said the new stop sign is annoying andunnecessary.

Ward 5 Alderman Tom Smith said the sign was put up for safetyreasons because it is a dangerous intersection. However, JamesSmith continued to question the need after officials cited policeaccident reports showing only one accident, which was not stop signrelated, at the intersection in the last three years.

“Just because you say something is dangerous doesn’t make itdangerous,” James Smith said.

Police Chief Arlustra “Pap” Henderson said an accident does notneed to happen at an intersection for it to be considereddangerous. City officials agreed to conduct a traffic study at theintersection and at some others that were mentioned during lastnight’s discussion.

Also Wednesday, Thomas Walker, of Wesson, requested help fromthe board after he was involved in a Dec. 12 accident at theintersection of North Cleveland Street and West Monticello Street.Walker said the other party in the accident had denied liabilitybecause there was no stop sign at the intersection.

Walker said the stop sign had been reported missing Nov. 30, andhe asked for over $4,600 in vehicle, rental and lost salary help.City officials said the request would have to be handled by thecity’s insurance company.

In a matter left over from the previous administration, aldermenofficially voted to ban the placement of handbills, flyers androadside signs on public property inside the city. The ordinancealso prohibits placement of items on automobiles.

The ordinance expands the previous law that prohibited thematerial in the downtown business district. The matter had beendiscussed several months ago, but was never voted on.

Violation of the ordinance carries the standard misdemeanorfine, which currently is $180.