Planning Board Rules Hayes' Property in Compliance, Vows to Move Forward

By Ron Fitzwater

The Ashe County Planning Board met in regular session Oct. 16 with the issue of junkyards in the county

once again dominating the majority of the meeting.

The board first dealt with the request from Ashe County Commissioners to make a yes or no vote on the compliance of the properties of Kyle Hayes. One of Hayes' properties on Nathan's Creek School Road has been a major topic of discussion with both boards for a considerable amount of time and the county commissioners tasked the planning board with making a final decision on the property's compliance with the current county junkyard ordinance.

County Planning Director Zach Edwardson told the board that based on inspections conducted by Code Enforcement Officer Tim Winters, of the 43 areas in the county that could be classified as junkyards and totaling 80 acres of land, (32 non-commercial and five commercial) were in complete compliance.

"Forty of those acres are what we would classify as commercial junkyards that are the owners' chief source of income. The other 40 acres are people who have enough junk or automobiles that are wrecked, dismantled, can't move on their own power or are worth less than $100 and thereby qualify as a junkyard but don't run it as a day to day operation," Edwardson said, adding, "of the six pieces of property out of compliance, five are currently in criminal court and one is in civil court."

When asked by board members if he felt there was any problem with non-compliance to the ordinance in the county, Winters explained that he didn't have problems with the majority of people he dealt with and when he did find violations, the property owners would correct them within the given time (72 hours) and passed on re-inspection.

Based on the testimony of Edwardson and Winters the board voted yes on compliance of permitted properties, minus the six currently under some type of judicial process. The properties in compliance include those of Kyle Hayes.

With no new business to attend to, the board accepted final plat approvals for North Fork Estates and Trails at Cranberry Springs before returning to the now familiar topic.

In an attempt to put the junkyard issue to rest and move forward on other pressing issues the board had, according to Chairman Rick Surber, "put aside for junkyards," the board opened the floor for a special period of time set by Surber, to discuss the issue with members of the public.

Nathan's Creek resident Richard Blohm addressed the board saying in referencing the special time added to the agenda by request of the board's chair. "As usual its not addressed correctly. I didn't want to just stand up here and talk about junkyards, okay. I would like to make a note that I requested from Zach [Edwardson] on Monday a list of all the junkyards and their addresses so that I and some other people could go out and view them," Blohm said not explaining the result of his request.

Continuing, Blohm said, "I wasn't given an opportunity to respond to your accolades for Zach and Tim [Winters] here and I'm not trying to put them down in any way, shape or form, so please don't take this the wrong way. I do commend both of them for doing a fine job. Having said that, there are a couple of things that I wanted to bring up, had I been given the opportunity prior to your vote. Your vote is a moot issue at this time but I wanted to bring them up anyway.

Blohm referenced what he believed to be violations at the N.C. Highway 16 property of Lee McMillan, which Blohm states should have fencing around it to be in compliance and Hayes' Nathan's Creek School Road property that he calls "the junkyard that is not a junkyard."

Blohm again referenced an August 2008 letter from County Attorney John Kilby that suggested the property in question was not a junkyard and could be used to stage crushed vehicles to be transported out of the county. Interpretation of the county ordinance by Kilby, Edwardson and members of the board made the determination that crushed vehicles loaded on a flatbed trailer were technically in transit and thereby not actually being stored on the property and thus the property was not a junkyard.

Following Blohm's comments to the board and several terse exchanges between him and some members of the board, Surber acknowledged Blohm's concerns about the McMillan and Hayes properties, but said that it was his opinion that there was nothing to be gained by "revisiting the same points over and over again. It isn't getting you anywhere or us either. We are getting further behind in the county's work and you're not getting what you want and I don't know how to resolve that," he said. Blohm asked for a vote from the board as to whether they were in agreement with the Kilby letter. After some additional brief, but forceful exchanges on the subject between Surber and Blohm, Surber told Blohm that the board would not vote again on the issue, that the earlier vote on compliance was sufficient. He also stated that unless the other board members present wanted another vote, none would take place. With no motion for a vote from any board member, Surber declared the subject closed.

Blohm later commented that he knew he had lost this issue, but that there were others in the county that were ready to pick up the fight.