MITCHELL — A Mitchell man’s quest to operate a motorcycle repair shop out of his residence is in limbo after the Mitchell City Council postponed a decision on granting a conditional use permit over concerns among nearby residents.

Dustin Vander Hamm’s plan to open a motorcycle repair shop next to his home on the south edge of Mitchell has sparked opposition from a handful of nearby residents who have concerns that the business could become a nuisance to the area where several homes and agricultural land exist.

Council member Susan Tjarks noted the area along South Rowley Street where Vander Hamm is proposing to open his shop is not in a business zoning district. She echoed some of the biggest concerns residents in the area have are whether the business would result in “having a lot of stuff laying around in the backyard that’s going to be unsightly.”

“They’re concerned about are you going to be test driving, are you going to be going fast down the roads, and are you going to be working on these late at night?” Tjarks said.

The city’s letter requiring Vander Hamm to secure a conditional use permit to operate his repair business came as a surprise to him. Vander Hamm said he’s been performing repair services on his own motorcycles in his shop, located at 2951 S. Rowley St., for quite some time and hadn’t been aware of complaints from nearby residents until now.

With hopes of working on others’ motorcycles at his shop, he is required to secure a conditional use permit to operate his business due to the codes of the Urban Development zoning district his shop is located in.

“Nobody has said anything to me, and I wasn’t aware anyone was complaining until now,” Vander Hamm said, noting he’s resided in the area since 1998. “I just do motorcycle repairs and tires. That’s it. I will not have anything outside.”

Heading into Monday’s council meeting, Vander Hamm’s conditional use permit had a stamp of recommendation from the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission. However, the council unanimously postponed approving the permit on Monday and requested Vander Hamm to attempt making some compromise with nearby residents opposing the plan.

Council member John Doescher highlighted the handful of letters against Vander Hamm’s proposed repair shop location that has him facing an “uphill battle,” urging him to “win them over.”

“I’d recommend to win them over because there is power in numbers. If you have four out of the six neighbors opposed, you are going to have an uphill battle,” Doescher said.

In David Harris’ letter against the conditional use permit, he pointed to an area in a Davison County zoned district that’s located near the neighborhood as a longstanding nuisance property that he noted has not been resolved. Harris, whose family owns property in the area, wrote that he is concerned if Vander Hamm’s operation were to become another nuisance property in the area, that it may never be resolved due to the existing “eyesore” nearby.

“The area has been a dumping ground of garbage and disassembly of modular homes for three generations. The response we have always received is that nothing can be done about it,” Harris wrote in his letter.

Some nearby residents have also cited the neighborhood’s covenants that state the lots in the tract of land shall be used “solely for residential purposes” as reasons they oppose Vander Hamm’s conditional use permit, but City Planner Mark Jenniges said the city does not regulate or enforce any covenants within the city.

Covenants are rules and regulations that are typically put in place in a residential neighborhood by a developer. For example, some neighborhoods in Mitchell have covenants that regulate the length of time vehicles can be parked on streets within the development.

Despite the pushback he’s facing from residents in the area, Councilman Marty Barington struck an optimistic tone, saying the city “doesn’t want to put a stop to any good businesses” but must ensure the area will not become another nuisance property. The council will consider approving the permit at its next meeting in early August.