County Denies Mira Plan

Plans put forth by Philip Mira, car collector extraordinaire and the owner of 1091 Palomino Road, were denied by the County BAR on July 8, 2005. Mira's plans called for a new workshop/garage on the property, ostensibly to harbor the junk and debris now scattered about his parcel.

After five previous hearings, with Mr. Mira remaining truculent in the face of criticism from neighbors and County BAR members, County BAR requested a landscaping plan from Mr. Mira, showing how Mr. Mira proposed to screen neighbors' views of the 40 or so vehicles presently on site. Mr. Mira declined to provide that plan, explaining that such a plan would be expensive and -- considering the property's location below the surrounding hillside parcels -- effective screening would be impractical.

Seeing no other alternative, County BAR issued a final denial of the project. Mr. Mira insisted that his project met the applicable zoning requirements, but, as one member of the County BAR observed, "sometimes it's just a matter of being a good neighbor". Mr. Mira departed the chambers, referring to his critics as "just a bunch of crybabies".

With this denial, Mr. Mira will now be obliged to remedy the outstanding zoning violations on his property, or risk fines and penalties for failing to do so.