It's kind of a long story. Last year I purchased a home in a city that has an ATV ordinace which is an ordinance that prohibits the riding or operation of ATVs on any street within the city. They also have a noise ordinance that prohibits loud and unnecessary noise within the city, and a zoning ordinance that says that all garages shall conduct repairs wholly within an enclosed building.
After moving into my new home I immediately started being harrassed by the ATV/motorcycle repair/racing shop located across the street (400 feet) away from me. I found out that 6 days a week, between the hours of 9am and 5:30pm, this shop uses the 15mph residential street that runs directly past my house to test race prepared ATVs and dirt bikes. They drive at speeds in excess of 40mph and are so loud that it rattles the walls.
I contacted the city to find out what was going on and discovered that he had been stopped for reckless driving a few years prior and he threw his phone at the officer. The officer proceeded to handcuff him and arrest him and he ended up sueing the city, claiming that the officer damaged his wrist with the handcuffs, and he ended up winning $20,000. Since then, the city and the police department refuse to take any type of action against him.
After NUMEROUS complaints to the city they finally issued him a ticket for operating an ATV on a city street. On the day of court he brought his attorney who claimed that there is a "loophole" in the ordinance that exemps him, so the judge said that he was free to ride and that the ordinance does not apply to him.
Since then the city refuses to hear my complaints saying that their hands are tied. In May 2006 I consulted with an attorney. He told me that we could try sending a letter to the shop owner and threaten suit and see if that got us anywhere. It didn;t
When that went nowhere he told me that the only other option was to file suit against the shop owner. This was in August 2006 and even though I agreed, suit wasn't filed until January 25, 2007. The shop requested a "more definite statement" and is still yet to file an answer to my complaint nearly 8 months later. In May 2007 my lawyer informed me that he had resigned, so another more experienced attorney with the firm took over my case.
He decided that we should take a different route than the previous lawyer had started, and it took him two months to file the new complaint. His complaint was directed at the city's failure to enforce their ordinances. After the complaint was filed, the city voted unanimously to rescind the ATV ordinance.
I informed my lawyer of this desicion and he said that he will ask for damages, but this was two weeks ago and I still don't know what's going on. Since the meeting and the vote, the shop owner has increased his harrassment by 100%. I've almost reached the point of walking off and starting over someplace else, but I'm on a fixed income and that would be very difficult.
I have called my lawyer 3 times since Monday and he has been "on another line" every time and has not returned my calls, I've sent two e-mails which he has not returned, and my neighbor who is also affected has called twice and he didn't return his calls either.
I feel like I'm harrassing my lawyer, but shouldn't he be keeping me up to date on what's going on? Should I just wait and see what happens or should I continue to try to reach him? I know he's eventually going to tell me that he has other clients besides me, but I would just really like to know where I stand at this point.
Here is a VERY brief video of what I have been putting up with daily for 15 months. Last Friday he passed my house 151 times in a four hour period. These videos were taken from my bedroom window: