The shop that brought the 380SE back from the dead in trouble...

http://www.thestranger.com/2002-08-22/city3.html

As a background to this story, this Benz repair shop sits right under the final approach path to Sea-Tac International Airport (immediately south of Seattle). Since the residents can't hope to change the flight path of all the jets and turboprops that land right over them, they feel like taking out a shop with a bunch of old Mercedeses will be the next best thing for "beautifying" their neighborhood.

However, this is one of the cheapest neighborhoods in Seattle, with a fairly high crime rate. I feel like these people are misguided in their quest against Benz Friendz and should focus on a more important issue.

-Sam

[BenzOnline]

Were they the ones fixing your Benz?

I'll never figure some people out. Move into a neighbourhood, and then decide later that you don't like the neighbours and run 'em out?

Too bad that I don't live in that area. I'd be fighting tooth and nail on the shops side.

Yeah, this is the shop that did the head and valve work on the 380SE, after the chain slipped several links and very bad things happened...anyway, the work they did was great, priced fairly, and the old W126 runs very well, and doesn't leak oil through the valve guides & stems any more, and doesn't blow a fog of oil smoke going down a hill, which was kinda embarrassing

They did great work on our Benz at a fair price, and are under attack from a bunch of people who have no appreciation of vehicles whatsoever and take umbrage at seeing a few old Mercedeses parked on the street out in front of the shop. Seriously, what the hell? I like seeing old Benzes...

I wished I lived in Georgetown too, so I'd have more of a voice in the matter. I think I may write a letter in defense of the shop anyway.

-Sam

[unkl300d]

Keep us posted on the outcome!

[Snibble]

I don't know if this will help, but what about an Online petition?

It would be a good idea. Unfortunately, I doubt that the neighborhood association that's trying to kick out Benz Friendz has a website or email address. Otherwise, they'd be getting an email from me in defense of the shop. Dunno if an online petition would work, but I am going to write an email to the Stranger (the weekly paper that the article appeared in) regarding Benz Friendz.

-Sam

[Bear]

The real irony will be that alot of those folk probably want to aspire to better things,including a merc eventually(a benz to you folk over there)Bear

[Jason Beal]

www.PetitionOnline.com

Maybe this web site could help you with this. You could always print your outcome and then snail mail the petition.

[Lebenz]

I wanted to chime in on this topic.

This is a mixed issue. First, I might have mentioned BenzFriends (BF) to Sam previously, when his SE broke and I’m glad that he got his car fixed there. I heard about BF from one of the techs at the Seattle MB dealer, who spoke very highly of the generosity and talent of the folks who work at BF.

I’ve been by this place and it really really really is an eyesore. It appears to be a greasy junk yard or chop shop for rusted and withered MB vehicles. It desperately needs to be cleaned up. I think if the proprietors would put a nice face on the place, the whole issue would blow over.

Georgetown residences for the most part contain no gems, either. While many of the gingerbread fashioned cedar houses built in this area date back to the late 1800s, most of them have been, at best, only marginally maintained since that time. Many are or should be fodder for the bull dozer. The end result is that the BF establishment only moderately -- if at all -- lowers any sense of aesthetic “charm” the neighborhood has, but that doesn’t make BF less of an eyesore.

Seattle has pretty stringent laws on having a business in a residential area. I too have a business in a residential area and can say with certainty that BF steps all over the requirements or restrictions imposed on businesses in this kind of location. Some of these restrictions include, no increase in typical traffic, no increase in noise, no obvious signs of commerce, no advertising of the address, no toxic chemicals used and so on. Despite this, I’m okay with what BF does – I don’t have to live across the street from it -- but if I did, I would be all over BF for their blatant violations. The reason I mention this is that the neighbors do have many points in their favor. The result: What the city will do is uncertain.

Certainly BF bring in a darn sight more tax revenue than the surrounding properties do, and that is a plus. And I’m okay that they are both good natured and specialize in a niche of auto repair that greatly benefits owners of, older daily driver MBs.

I guess the core issue is one of appearances. I would like to know how many of the indes that frequent this site keep their shops clean and pretty, or at least clean, and how many have -- how to say it -- junk yards from which they perform their work. Again, my take is to require BF to pretty up the place enough to hide it from public view. The difficulty here is that in the city a 6’ fence is the tallest one can erect. This brings the possible solution to plant huge bushes to both hide the place with the goal of deadening the sounds and thinning smells from the neighbors...

The Stranger article mentions several interested parties. These include, Diane Sugimura of DCLU, State Representative Velma Veloria, Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis. One can always write the Seattle Times, and other local news reporting agencies as well.

Let the folks at BenzFriends take a leadership role of adding some beauty to the neighborhood. It is all but guaranteed to start an upward trend in a part of town would greatly benefit from it. Even better, the customers of BenzFriends would enjoy the change in appearances. Except perhaps they’d be worried about prices going up. . .

I agree--their shop is definitely not a beauty at all.

The '66 250S hacksaw convertible conversion with a 15-foot tall TREE standing up in the backseat comes to mind, as well as the sad 300sel 6.3 sitting in back of the shop on collapsed air suspension.

However, although the shop is an eyesore, the homes around it definitely fall into the "eyesore" category too. Pretty much a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

But if they were truly "grandfathered in" like in the article, they have a right to be there, same as every other structure in the neighborhood.

When my dad and I went down there on July 26th to get the 380SE, the mechanic who did the lump sum of the work on the 380SE noted that "no cars could sit outside of their shop with their hoods open" due to an injunction. I wonder what legal rule decided that...

-Sam