NEWS

Parking dispute between two Goshen businesses has bubbled to the surface

Food for Thought

Marshall V. King
Tribune Columnist

GOSHEN — Two neighboring businesses have been fighting for a while over parking. After nearly 11 months of back and forth between Linway Plaza and The Oasis restaurant, it’s starting to bubble up publicly.

In 2018, flooding in Goshen turned the parking lot at Linway into a sea and prompted the demolition and rebuilding of The Oasis, which first opened in 1962. New owners who were planning a renovation before the flood have built a larger location with industrial chic decor and a larger, more hip menu.

In 1994, Dave and Linda Wright opened a movie theater nearby with four screens. With business partners, they grew Linway Plaza to include 17 businesses and a few more along the edges of the parking lot that now has 600 spaces. They’re concerned patrons of the new restaurant will park in some of those. Linda Wright said after the meeting they’re interested in “property delineation.”

Before the hearing, signs went up indicating that if Oasis customers park in Linway spots, the cars could be towed. Former Oasis owner Denny Yoder decried them on Facebook and others have chimed in.

Linway, which the Wrights now fully control without other partners, now includes the cinema with 14 screens and 2,200 seats. Hacienda Mexican Restaurants has 455 seats. The Goshen location of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and other restaurants and businesses are part of the plaza along Lincoln Avenue west of downtown.

On Wednesday, about 100 people gathered for an Indiana Department of Natural Resources hearing in the basement of Goshen Public Library. The Wrights are petitioning the IDNR to put a 650-foot fence on the south side of West Lincoln Avenue along the popular shopping plaza and a 285-foot chain link fence that would be around The Oasis within the plaza’s parking lot. Because the fencing and much of both businesses are in the floodway, the DNR is working toward a decision on whether it approves the fencing.

The standing-room-only crowd was instructed by Scott Dean, an environmental manager in IDNR’s Division of Water, he wanted to hear comments about flooding, safety and impact on fish, wildlife and plants.

“I really don’t have a dog in the race to be honest,” he said. “I’m going to look to see how it affects the floodway.”

Those in the room acknowledged this is a dispute over parking. Rich Geiser called the potential structure a “spite fence” and earned applause when he urged the two groups to be good neighbors and help each other.

Oasis co-owner Heather Tobias Harren spoke against the fence. The Wrights were there but did not speak publicly during the hour-long hearing, though several people defended their proposed fence.

A number of those against the fence said it would be unsafe. Doug Nisley, Goshen City Council member who represents the district, said he’s heard a lot of concern about the potential fence.

“The district is worried more about the safety of the patrons and getting into that area,” he said.

The hearing included a lot of discussion of flooding and what would happen when another flood hits. The fence would be hard for firefighters, according to 35-year Goshen Fire Department veteran Don Showalter, who also pointed out how full of submerged objects the Elkhart River and its flood waters are.

The disagreement has become like those floodwaters: murky and full of stuff below the surface. The Wrights and Oasis owners have both said they’ve tried to resolve the situation and the other side isn’t being forthright. (Owners from both have said they’ll tell me their side of the story. I plan to listen.)

Now the battle is surfacing on social media and customers are declaring which one they choose. Customers shouldn’t have to choose in this way. It’s inevitably not good for the businesses or the city. Disagreements emerge in any vibrant place as change happens, but when they can’t be resolved and it gets ugly, the damage can be hard to repair.

So far this dispute has stayed out of court, yet a ruling by the DNR or even a city board may solve parking, but not the core of the dispute between two neighbors about parking and how to co-exist as customers come to them.

A resolution won’t be easy at this point, but should be sought. Both sets of owners should sit in a room and work this out. They’ll likely need a mediator to help.

Finding a solution would be for the good of Goshen.

This is one of several parking restriction signs that have been placed at Linway Plaza in Goshen around the perimeter of The O restaurant along Lincoln Avenue in Goshen.
South Bend Tribune Columnist Marshall King