Dear Sir,

Responding to the article about Cardoza’s garage (Tuesday, December 23), as a resident of this neighbourhood I know first hand the serious problems this business poses.

It has outgrown its current premises and overflows into our lives. They do not have adequate parking and therefore feel free to park on the road, with a clearly marked yellow line.

They do not leave adequate passage for a fire truck, leaving many homes at risk. Cars would have to be moved causing costly delays in any emergency.

The garage has been leasing a lot from the Government. This should have been used for customer parking but instead has become an unsightly junkyard, filled with non-operational vehicles and parts. This has presented the problems of mosquitoes, rats and plummeting property values.

We do not believe our properties have been devalued, we know it.

Hours of operation present another point of contention. This garage is in a residential neighbourhood and it rarely closes before midnight. Do we have no rights to a good night’s sleep? When they have been approached about noise, they respond with “we have to make a living”.

We have jobs and would like to do them well, needing sleep to do this. Are there no laws about noise and closing times in a residential neighbourhood? This has been going on for years. Why has the Government (as the landlord of the leased lot) not stepped in and had the lot cleared? Why do we have to tolerate this junkyard on Government land?

Who is responsible for this injustice to area residents? When does the Government revoke a business licence for not having appropriate space or for thumbing its nose at hours of operation laws?

When does a business have the right to devalue all our homes?

This business was a small operation 50 years ago. Parking was no problem then. It was contained to their premises. It did not impact the neighbourhood as it does now.

I take offence at Mr Sousa’s comment of “We take ourselves far too seriously”. If this was the neighbourhood he lived in, and the junk, junk and more junk were what he had to deal with daily, he would take himself very seriously in seeking change.

AREA RESIDENT