Still smarting from a guilty verdict a week ago, Bob Helmers charges zoning justice in Austin is unfair.

Tuesday, March 28, 2000

Still smarting from a guilty verdict a week ago, Bob Helmers charges zoning justice in Austin is unfair.

"Where is equal law? Where is equal justice? Is it just for a few businesses in Austin?" Helmers said.

"There’s been no prosecution of the owners of the A&W Root Beer stand or any of the others, who did the same thing that I did," Helmers said. "I haven’t done anything different than they did."

A Mower County Third Judicial District Court jury found Helmers’ wife and co-owner of Kar Korner guilty of violating city zoning laws against expanding a business onto a residential property.

Sheila Helmers was found guilty a week ago of four misdemeanor counts of violating zoning laws.

She and her husband, Bob, own the Kar Korner business at 1501 Eighth Ave. NW, near the 14th Street intersection. A seven-hour jury trial was held March 20.

The couple were denied a request to rezone three residential lots, including two on their used-car lot and another on an adjacent residential lot they own.

Despite the denial, the couple expanded their business onto the third lot.

At the trial and in previous appeals to the Austin City Council, the couple argued the owners of the A&W Drive-In Restaurant and The Point ice cream shop at 910 Fourth St. NW were allowed to expand their parking area onto a city-owned piece of property at the new First Drive NW intersection and zoned residential.

Later, the Austin City Council rezoned the parcel of land for business use.

According to Helmers, that argument was not accepted by the court at the March 20 jury trial in which his wife was found guilty.

District Judge Donald E. Rysavy can sentence Sheila Helmers to a $700 fine and 90 days in jail.

However, the jail time may not be required if the Helmerses restore the residential lot, which was paved for parking cars for sale, to its "residential state."

"Both the Kar Korner and the A&W properties were zoned R-2, but only one of them, the A&W property, was allowed to be rezoned. Now, you tell me if that is fair or not?" Bob Helmers said.