NORWICH – A proposed zoning change on Birdsall Street was unanimously denied at Tuesday night’s Common Council meeting for reasons the council said are best for area residents and best in the long term interest of the city.

The original request for a zoning change was made last January by George Blood, owner of Tansey’s Auto Supply on 13 Birdsall St. It was Blood’s intent to open an auto repair garage that would border his store, but his request was opposed by neighboring residents who petitioned against the garage to keep the zone a residential (R3) instead of changing to commercial (B1). The council first heard the concerns of area residents at a public hearing in March.

Speaking at last night’s public hearing, Blood told the council, “What I have to say has already been presented.”

Margie McMullen, whose Griffin Street home borders Tansey’s Auto, said an increase in noise, traffic and pollutants would add to the depreciation of properties adjacent to the proposed auto repair business. “What was once an ideal neighborhood is now in decay,” she told the council, adding that a zoning change also opens floodgates for additional businesses to take advantage. “Explain to me how is this good,” she said.

Neighboring homeowners Ken Hine and Theresa Hillier-Hine of 15 Birdsall St. initiated the petition against the zoning change last year and restated some of their original arguments again last night. An auto repair garage next to their home would be unsafe, they said, and a zoning change to suit the demands of one business owner is unfair to neighboring homeowners and “unconstitutional.”

Hillier-Hine said a repair garage in such a confined space would have a detrimental impact on residents’ health and the environment. “This is the reason we have zoning laws – to protect people living in their homes,” she said.