November 23, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Besieged garage owner denies misconduct
by JENNIFER KATZ

Mark Brown, owner of Mt. Pleasant Garage, at Lincoln Drive and Mt. Pleasant Avenue, came forward this week to vehemently deny allegations of misconduct leveled against him in last week’s Local.

The garage had been issued a cease of operations on Nov. 1 for the second time after neighbors, community leaders and local politicians lobbied the Department of Licenses and Inspections to investigate the garage’s operation.

Officially, the garage was cited for not having proper licensure and violating the city code because of a large, gaping hole in the roof of the building. Neighbors, however, have been complaining about the garage’s operation for sometime and have organized a campaign to close it down.

Early last summer, neighbors were successful at mobilizing both West Mt. Airy Neighbors and Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller to pressure L&I to take action against the garage. Officials at L&I did not return calls by press time.

After the first cease of operations notice on June 8, Brown said he provided L&I with documentation proving that he has proper licensing. He also added that he has been repairing the roof for several months now.

According to Brown, the article was the first he had heard of the allegations collected by neighbors over the last several years.

“I was shocked to hear about this stuff from the newspaper,” he said in a telephone interview Nov. 14. “And to see the names of the people saying the stuff was really a surprise.”

A 41-year resident of Mt. Airy, Brown said he does not understand why no one was able to contact him and address these issues face to face.

“If you went into any of the stores around here and talked to any of the people who work here or own these businesses,” Brown said, referring to the corner deli, the Chinese food takeout restaurant and even the CVS store manager, “they would have been able to tell you who I am and where I live.”

According to Vernon Price, of Councilwoman Miller’s office, the problem was that Brown did not obtain the proper permits to do the necessary repairs.

“I have been involved with the process for sometime,” Price said. “He needed to be in compliance and that is what we have been trying to do – get him compliant.”

Brown remains perplexed at everyone’s assertions that they have been in communication and working on these problems for sometime.

“I haven’t heard from Vernon at all,” he said. “I’ve known Vernon for years and in fact before all of this I would have said we were friends. He mentioned something to me once at the coffee shop [Infusion] about people been talking about your garage. That’s it.”

Again, Brown said, that is an easy problem to fix and certainly not grounds r calling in the city’s code enforcement.

On one occasion, a neighbor informed him that workers were in the garage revving engines and making noise at 2 a.m. Brown said he immediately let the employee go.

“I am not averse to dealing with problems if they are there,” he said outside his garage last week. “It seems to me that all of these issues could have been addressed. If there is a log, I would like to have seen it. The problems could have been dealt with.”

Brown said some of the accusations are ludicrous. For example, the garage owner, who said he was “about 50,” is puzzled by residents’ claims that they have seen people from the garage pouring oil on the sidewalk or in the street. Not that it is far fetched to see oil deposits in the vicinity of a garage, but Brown denies that he or his employees have ever used the sidewalk and/or the grounds as a dumping site.

“I planted the garden in front of the garage,” he explained. “Why would I want to kill it?”

Brown said what baffles him most is the way in which this all came to light.

“Alan Silverblatt [credited with spearheading the movement on behalf of the neighbors to close down the garage] lives four doors down from me on Glen Echo,” he said. “It just seems cowardly to go to the newspaper and not come to me directly.”

Brown said he saw Sienna at a meeting for the townhouse development on Mt. Pleasant Avenue earlier this year. He said they spoke briefly but not about the garage.

Brown addressed each of the issues raised, at times with simple disbelief. He said he closed the garage officially after injuring his back last October and that there are still about a dozen cars inside the garage he works on when he can.

“All of these cars belong to people who know me and don’t need them back anytime soon,” he said.

In the days after the publication of the Nov. 9 article, the Local received several calls from people defending Brown. All of the callers refused to give their names or go on record. Most of the callers echoed Brown’s sentiments that his neighbors should have talked to him and not used the paper or local officials to do their bidding.

But Price said Brown’s claims are simply not true.

“He was trying to operate under the radar screen,” Price said. “We tried to work with him. We are business friendly but everyone has to abide by the law.”

Contact staff writer Jennifer Katz at 215-248-8804 or jenn@chestnuthilllocal.com.