MEMPHIS, Tenn. — According to fox13memphis.com, Keith Marshall, owner of the mobile business Perfection Carwash and Detail, claims he’s being harassed by Shelby County Code Enforcement and police after having received nearly a dozen code violation citations.
Marshall has operated his mobile carwash out of two parking lots on Riverdale and Winchester Rd. for five years, the article stated.
Marshall showed FOX13 a letter signed by the owner of the Hibachi Grill on Riverdale giving him permission to wash vehicles on the restaurant’s lot, the article noted.
“Overtime, Memphis Police Department came and asked me if I had permission to be here, and I told them yes,” Marshall said. “At the time, I didn’t know about the business license.”
Marshall said that even after he obtained a business license, Code Enforcement visited him again a couple months later, the article continued, saying that he needed a draining system to prevent water from entering the Memphis city sewers.
“I bought this machine that cost a little over $15,000 to collect all the water. 100 percent of the water and everything we use is earth-friendly.”
Marshall claims to have received nearly a dozen citations since he’s opened business, the article noted, and that he doesn’t understand why.
Code Enforcement has stated that he must apply for a special use permit, the article stated.
“Now they’re threatening to take me to jail if I don’t have it,” Marshall said. “I did everything the law requires me to do, but you’re constantly asking for more and more.”
When FOX13 took Marshall’s concerns to Code Enforcement to ask about the need for a special use permit, the article added, Code Enforcement Administrator Allen Medlock provided this statement:
“This case has been to General Sessions Court several times. A court order was issued to this gentleman twice to cease operating on a parking lot and/or without a Certificate of Occupancy. A business license does not give permission to operate a carwash without meeting all the requirements of the zoning code. A carwash requires a Special Use Permit which would stipulate what is needed to operate a business as this. There is sanitary needs associated with this, a building, parking, facilities for customers, etc. There is no Certificate of Occupancy and one cannot be issued without the mentioned requirements. This is the reason that our department has continued to issue citations to this business. If the defendant appears in court again on this matter, he could be taken into custody for this zoning code violation if the judge pleases to do.”
Marshall said that Memphis could do a better job in terms of educating business owners about the proper license and permit requirements, the article noted.
“My concern is getting your business license,” Marshall said.
Read the original article here.
