La Verne appeals board upholds city order to clear vehicle storage, limit repairs at 535 Old Nashville Highway

The La Verne Board of Zoning Appeals voted on March 20, 2025, to uphold a November 21, 2024, letter from city codes staff ordering operations at 535 Old Nashville Highway to come into compliance with city codes, including a cease-and-desist on heavy mechanic work and removal or relocation of certain stored vehicles and unpermitted trailers.

The action affects a property identified in the hearing as C-2 (Highway Service) zoning and owned, according to the packet, by Lehi Warnecke. The petition before the board was an appeal by David Morale Driggers, the site operator, who said he has operated car sales, a repair shop and a tow/storage operation at the address since the mid-1990s. Tom Reed, an attorney for Driggers, argued the use was lawful and presented historical licensing and permit material to the board.

The board’s decision followed a staff presentation and an extended applicant statement. City planning staff displayed aerial and zoning maps showing the site at the corner of Old Nashville Highway and Blue Valley Drive and noted the property’s C-2 designation. City codes staff told the board their position: “it is our position that in 02/2004 he was approved to have a tow lot ... in the area back along the power lines,” and that photographs show junk vehicles and trailers and that existing fencing “does not meet the ordinance” because it is not nontransparent, staff said.

Driggers and his attorney rebutted several of the city’s citations during the hearing. Reed said the zoning code in effect when Driggers began operating expressly allowed outdoor storage in C-2 zones so long as storage was not in the front yard, and that items on the lot were inventory or in transition for sale rather than “abandoned.” Driggers told the board he first obtained a dealer license in December 1995 and said the lot has been in continuous use for sales, repair and related activity since then.

City staff and the applicant disputed specific factual points the letter cited. The November 2024 compliance letter (C.L.A. Burns) cited city code Title 13, Chapter 1, Section 13.105 (open storage) and a 2018 International Fire Code section dealing with tire storage and tire-rebuilding facilities; Driggers and his counsel said those fire-code provisions do not apply to the activities at the site. The applicant also provided building-permit paperwork and older minutes the applicant said show the board previously recognized garage and sales activity on the parcel.

Legal counsel to the board summarized the legal standard the board must apply for a claimed grandfathered (lawful nonconforming) use: the use must have been permitted before a zoning change and legally established, not merely tolerated through lack of enforcement (citing the legal standards discussed in the hearing). Counsel told the board those standards must guide any finding on whether the current operations are protected.

After discussion, the chair moved to “agree with staff and the building official” and to enforce the seven items listed in the city’s November 21, 2024 compliance letter (cease heavy mechanic work, confine approved storage to the rear under the power lines, remove trucks/vans/campers/semis not allowed in the approved storage area, remove tires/debris/open storage contrary to code, remove unpermitted sales trailers, install nontransparent screening where required, and repair/replace signage). The motion passed on a roll-call vote recorded as ayes by board members present; names were not all read into the transcript for each vote but the board chair called the motion and recorded support.

The board’s action is procedural: it upholds the building official’s compliance order rather than adopting new zoning text. The decision requires the operator to take the corrective steps listed in the city letter; the hearing record shows staff will monitor compliance and that the operator acknowledged plans to install black screening and confirmed ongoing business licensing inspections by the state motor vehicle commission.

The case will remain subject to compliance follow-up; the board’s legal adviser reminded members that any written findings should articulate why the board reached its conclusion on the grandfathering claim or lack thereof, based on the record. The board also noted that certain historical documents referenced by the applicant are not in the current city files and that the applicant offered to provide additional documentary materials.

Votes at a glance - Motion: Uphold the city codes department’s November 21, 2024 compliance letter and require compliance with its seven directives. Mover: Chairman Coates. Second: not specified in the transcript. Outcome: approved on roll call (ayes recorded by members present).