On March 1st, neighbors in the Country Club Estates community immediately opposite from Roddey Park on Saluda Rd received the following letter. The sign below also appeared in front of the business.
The meeting was held and I and other residents of adjoining communities attended.
After the jump, my notes from the meeting…
1 hour in and so far we’ve had the slide presentation of what is being requested, then Councilman Roddey talked for 20 minutes, then the Architect talked for 25 minutes so far, including answering council questions. One hour and the actual land owner hasn’t even talked yet.
and:
The meeting started at 6pm. The first ~20 minutes of the meeting was the slide presentation by one of the staff. The next 20 minutes of the meeting was the full-throated support of the exception request by Councilman Bump Roddey. The next 30 minutes of the meeting was Landscape Architect Duane F. Christopher presenting the wishes of Family Auto Sales. The matriarch (I apologize — I don’t know her name) of the family also answered questions. The York County Zoning Board of Appeals posed numerous pointed questions to Mr. Christopher and FAS about what restrictions they would agree to.
After nearly 2 hours, the floor was opened to those residents in opposition to the request. Other than Troy Cross and myself, I did not notice anyone from Roddey Park or True Homes. The Country Club Estates neighborhood were well-represented and made several invaluable contributions and speeches. Concerns about how FAS have only shown serious effort in cleaning up the property over the last week were raised, as were environmental concerns about leaking oil and other chemicals from inoperable vehicles.
After 2 hours 45 minutes, the motion was put forth to grant the special exception with a laundry list of restrictions that Family Auto Sales will be required to comply with by June 15th if they wish to store inoperable vehicles on their land. The motion was passed unanimously at 9:10pm.
The exception is granted with these conditions:
- The holding area for inoperable cars (and parts) will be defined by an 8 foot opaque wood fence 80 feet x 30 feet, standing at least 170 feet from the front property line.
- The holding area will hold no more than 20 cars not to be held longer than 60 days. FAS agrees to document the arrival date of all cars being held. Vehicles may not be stacked in the holding area.
- The tractor trailer being used to store car parts will be removed immediately.
- No metal crushing, recycling, painting, or body work will take place on the premises.
- Both parcels of property (the original property which is still owned by another family, plus the new property) will be paved with asphalt and curbs all around in an attractive fashion. The asphalt will have painted lines and curb stops for all parked cars to maintain an orderly appearance.
- Appropriate landscaping will be installed on all buffer zones around the property.
- No additional curb cuts (entrance/exit) will be granted for the property.
There was much concern expressed that 80 feet by 30 feet would not be enough area to comfortably house a rotating stock of disabled vehicles, however Family Auto Sales repeatedly insisted that this restriction, as well as the 20 car limit, was acceptable and workable for them.
Community members made our concerns clear that we have serious doubts about FAS’ ability to deliver on these promises, based on past history. FAS indicated that they have not done much work towards these requests as they don’t want to have to do the work twice if the approvals or conditions change. Also, the South Carolina DOT Pennies for Progress program intends to widen Saluda St to 5 lanes as they have done on Alrbright and Main Street which may have further effects.
The York Country Zoning Board of Appeals expressed that, once Family Auto Sales agrees to these terms, the county can be more vigilant on enforcing rules violations if any of these terms are not followed.
Leave a Reply