Garage

Garage

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“I don’t see a 10-foot fence as any more attractive than wrecked cars,” Jackson District representative David Fannon said. “I’d rather see trees.” He suggested that the Settles plant trees on the property line and pull back five feet and build the fence for protection.

“They don’t have enough ground to pull back five feet,” County Administrator John McCarthy said.

“If we don’t need a fence, we won’t put a fence,” the Settles’ son Bubby said. “There will be no change in how the lot is used. We use the lot for parking cars when we’re working on them.”

Stonewall-Hawthom representative Sharon Pierce asked, “Is it appropriate to talk about a limit?”

Mr. Settle replied that he does not want to keep coming back applying for a higher limit as his business grows.

“From a neighbor’s standpoint, does it make a difference if you’re rotating wrecked cars?” Ms Pierce asked.

“I’m the neighbor,” Paul Nichols said. “I’ve been watching the lot there grow and grow. I told him why I was in opposition. There are a number of them, and they stay there some length of time. Some of them are beyond repair.

“I’m in the proximity of a junkyard,” Mr. Nichols maintained. “It’s a health problem.

Charlotte Nichols said, “A residential area surrounds the property. The business has been there, but expanding it pushes out residences. It troubles me to have the land used as a business. It troubles me to know the proper way to use this.”

“Have there ever been any polutants found in the water?” BZA representative Sid Gottlieb asked.

Mr. Nichols answered that he is having his well water tested. “I do know the proximity of the grandfathered area is 50 to 75 feet from my primary well. The surface of our water is 19 feet below the ground surface.”

“The Settles spent several thousand dollars having all the wells below tested and no contamination was found,” Mr. Fletcher said.

Attorney David Konick, speaking for the Nichols, presented the planners with several pictures of the lot in question showing wrecked vehicles. “I appreciate the Settles’ concern with fewer and fewer gas stations, but that’s not the issue. We’re not talking about, ‘Can they have a gas station?’ The question is whether it should be extended.

“It will devalue the property,” Mr. Konick continued. “It’s a potential threat to health and safety. The tests aren’t on the record, and they ought to be put on the record. The question isn’t just what exists now, but what will happen in 10 or 20 years.