Wheaton, auto dealer at odds over used cars
Wheaton just isn't a used-car kind of town, and city officials don't want one of its larger businesses projecting that image on the radio or on the streets.
The city sent Packey Webb Ford a cease-and-desist letter Friday telling it to stop advertising its Roosevelt Road dealership as a used car hub.
Moreover, the city doesn't want a used car sales hub.
"I don't want it to become a used car center that steadily and surely dilapidates and is the first thing that greets you when you come into Wheaton," Councilman Howard Levine said this week. "I just don't want to see a 1978 LeBaron parked on Roosevelt Road, welcome to Wheaton."
Neither does Brad Webb, the owner of the dealership. But Webb already has transformed the lot into a used car operation with a body and service shop.
Webb said he hasn't received a cease-and-desist letter from the city.
He said he has no intention of converting his business back to domestic new car sales. That part of his business is now located at a dealership along Ogden Avenue in Downers Grove.
"The reality was that Ogden Avenue was a better traffic, higher competition option," Webb said. "You think we're thrilled about moving our business? We've been (in Wheaton) since 1964. It's about survival."
Webb said domestic new car sales weren't profitable at the Wheaton location anymore.
Still, the city estimated it rakes in up to $200,000 a year in sales tax from the Packey Webb dealership. Those tax dollars may drop with a used car-only operation.
Webb said he sells only high-end, newer model used cars at the location.
That still doesn't get him in compliance with Wheaton's zoning code. City laws require dealerships to sell both new and used cars to be in business, no matter the size or quality of the operation.
Webb said he told the city of his business plan earlier in the year.
"Never was it ever announced to me that a stand-alone used car operation was a prohibited operation in the city of Wheaton," Webb said.
He said he hopes the city council will agree to amend the zoning code to stay in business. The council already has said it has no desire to change the law, leaving Webb without many options.
"Our preference would be to remain there and serve our customer base in that capacity," Webb said. "But they can cut their nose off to spite their face if they want."