Council tables junk vehicle ordinance

    The Washington City Council voted to table the third reading of an ordinance pertaining to junk vehicles at its meeting Wednesday evening. The part of the ordinance that received the most attention was the section on junk vehicles stored at towing and automotive repair businesses. The proposed ordinance states that inoperable vehicles, or ?junk vehicles,? may not be stored outside on the property of such businesses for more than 30 days.

    Councilman Mike Roth, who is a member of the ordinance committee responsible for drafting the junk vehicle ordinance, said that he spoke with five automotive business owners in town about the ordinance, and they all wanted to see it changed.

    ?They told me that the 30-day requirement was an undue hardship because they had to wait longer than that for insurance claims,? said Roth. ?We don?t want to restrict their ability to conduct business in a normal fashion.?

    Councilman Bob Shepherd asked Roth why none of the business owners were present at the council meeting. Roth said that each of them was given the opportunity.

    Shepherd also told the council that a number of people had asked him about how the ordinance would affect residents who restore junk vehicles on their property. The current language of the ordinance states that a person wishing to restore a junk vehicle must purchase a $25 permit to allow him to do so, which is good for six months. Permit holders must store the vehicle on an all-weather surface or an inconspicuous place on their property.

    ?Do they have to get a $25 permit every six months they work on the vehicle?? asked Shepherd. ?Restoring a vehicle often takes a few years.?

    Roth said vehicle owners would have to buy a permit every six months.

    Shepherd responded by saying, ?What about financially strapped individuals? I could see someone restoring a vehicle who has to skip meals to come up with the money.?

    Roth said that, in the past, some people have claimed hardship for excessive lengths of time. However, he said he was open to extending the permit length from six months to one year.

    The council once again discussed the proposed development agreement with Jeremy Patterson to establish a TIF district. Patterson informed the council that he and his remodeling crew had made significant progress remod-

eling the building in the last two weeks. He said that he had just put plywood over all the windows. He said that he plans to ?jack up? the building by the end of the week.

    City Administrator Dave Plyman said the preliminary development agreement he and Patterson worked out called for the city to provide Patterson $25,000 once the building had been moved, in addition to the property tax rebate. Patterson said that he thinks $86,000 is a fairer amount because of the money he has already put into the building to refurbish it. In return, Patterson said he would be willing to give the lot the building sits on to the city.  

    Councilwoman Karen Wilson-Johnson asked Patterson what he would do if they could not reach an agreement to establish a TIF district. Patterson said that he would go ahead with the project even without TIF funding. Patterson also told the council that the building is now in a condition where residents can safely walk through it, provided they do so with Patterson?s permission.

    ?We encourage anyone who wants to come through the building now to do so because it?s safe,? said Patterson. ?The building has been cabled all the way around, so you have to duck to get in the door. We have no problem with anyone going through the building as long as we?re there.?   

    Wilson-Johnson reported that the Street Committee met earlier in the evening and recommended that the council wait one year to repair the railroad crossing on Fourth Avenue. The city was recently notified that a state grant was available to repair the crossing, which would cost an estimated $105,000, of which the city would pay roughly $20,000.

For the full article, see our Feb. 4 print edition.