Hills neighbors at odds over garage

Ray Currie just wanted a garage big enough for all of his cars. The 2,900-square-foot steel and aluminum structure he is building at the end of a Martinez Road has become something more - a conversation piece. "I've got a lot of hobbies," Currie said. "Antique cars Stock cars. I've got eight or nine I guess. I've never stopped to count them." He is building a prefabricated garage that is 65 feet long, 45 feet wide and 22 feet 4 inches tall, to hold them. When he built his 6,000-square-foot home in the 7000 block of Martella Lane in 1987, he included a three-car garage. "I thought that would be enough," he said. It wasn't. In the last couple of years, Currie's car collection has grown. Cars on trailers, trucks, and recreational vehicles, some bearing the Currie Enterprises logo, have been parked along an unpaved easement known as Martinez Road. "I graded the biggest possible pad and I'm building the biggest possible garage. Economically it didn't make sense to build anything smaller." His neighbors aren't so sure. "If I put that thing up on my lot they would dynamite me," said Paul Martin, owner of the property next door and an easement that ends at the Currie's garage. He noticed the concrete foundation two months before the steel framing went up. He says he went to the city to find out what would be built there. "At first I was told that there were no plans (for a structure)," he said. Later he said that he was alternately told that the plans had been "lost, misfiled, misplaced or would not be available for viewing until after construction was completed." "It looks like a welding shop," he added. "I'm worried they are going to do commercial work in there." Currie Enterprises, the firm owned and operated by the Currie family, makes high performance parts for muscle cars, racecars and off-road vehicles. Currie said he might work on his own cars in the oversized garage, but insisted that all commercial work would be done at Currie Enterprises. "That thing is just a monster," said Sharon Painter, who passes it on her way home. "It is what everybody sees as they come up Mohler Drive and it looks pretty awful." Painter, a yoga instructor, wonders how such a building was permitted in the scenic corridor. "My ex-husband and I planted an orange grove and the city made us send out postcards to all the neighbors. They were real sticklers at the time," she said. Currie says he has talked to his neighbors and there are no problems. His father and brothers own most of the homes on Martella. "We have no problem with the garage," said Charlotte Lark whose home is across the street from the structure. "None at all. Its great." Other neighbors were not notified of the Currie's garage it did not require a zoning variance or conditional use permit. "It is within the code," said Fred Martinez, city building operations manager. "The city cannot discriminate between manufactured buildings and on-site construction," said Greg Hastings, the city's zoning manager. Sonja Grewal, secretary for the Anaheim Hills Citizens Coalition suggested a possible avenue for those who oppose such structures in the city's scenic corridor. "One option would be to participate in the city's general plan review process," she said. "The zoning code is also under review." Hastings said that existing setback and height requirements are being met and no commercial work would not be permitted there. He added that as an accessory building the garage must be in proportion to the main house. "We wouldn't allow a building of this size behind a tract house in West Anaheim," Hastngs said. "But because of the size of the Curie home, it is proportional." He said there aren't many such structures in the city. He recalled only one. "I think that one is being used as a stable," he said.