Henderson’s proposed amortization ordinance for auto repair shops and junkyards will come before the City Council tonight, just long enough for council members to discuss their next step.
The Planning Board unanimously approved the draft ordinance last week despite acknowledging problems with the proposal. The board decided to keep the ordinance moving and to let the council deal with disputes.
The purpose of the ordinance is to force auto repair businesses that existed before the city’s zoning ordinance to come into compliance with the zoning rules in phases over three years. The idea is to clear out sites that have turned into junkyards as old cars have piled up through the decades.
As drafted, the ordinance would force auto repair facilities in residential areas of the city and its Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction to close within three years. Such facilities in business and industrial zones could remain as long as they met the standards of the zoning ordinance regarding setbacks, privacy fencing, paving and the elimination of junk cars.
Business owners turned out in large numbers to oppose the ordinance during the Planning Board’s public hearing April 20. Planning Director Grace Smith has estimated that 12 facilities would be put out of business, and about 20 others would have to make improvements to keep operating.
The council is not going to consider passing the ordinance tonight. Instead, the council will decide whether to schedule a public hearing on the ordinance for May 23 and whether to send the draft to a council committee for changes before that hearing.
In a related but less controversial matter, the council also will decide whether to set a public hearing for May 23 on amendments to the zoning ordinance that would require businesses to get special-use permits to open auto repair facilities in the I-2, B-2 and B-2A districts. Enclosed vehicle repair facilities now are allowed in those zones by right.
No one appeared to speak at the Planning Board’s public hearing on those amendments last week, and the board gave them unanimous support.
Among other matters on tonight’s agenda, which City Manager Eric Williams estimates should take 77 minutes to get through, not counting items beyond his control such as Mayor Clem Seifert’s opening remarks and a report from the committee overhauling the process of appraising the manager’s performance:
* Vance County Emergency Operations Director Brian Short is to speak about a plan for the continuity of nonemergency operations after a disaster. Short was due to present the same report two weeks ago, but he was detained at the Iams plant after an accident raised fears of toxic emissions within the plant.
* The Public Utilities Committee will bring a pair of issues before the council for possible action.
First is a proposed ordinance on the handling of fats, oils and grease by food preparation facilities in the city. The staff from the Water Reclamation Facility held a pair of information sessions on the FOG ordinance last month. The ordinance would require restaurants to install and maintain grease traps and to document their maintenance. The ordinance includes a schedule of penalties that would kick in after a year for the failure to keep grease out of the sewage system; repeated violations and violations causing major sewage spills could result in criminal charges.
Second is a request from the Kerr Lake Regional Water System Advisory Board for the City Council to endorse a decision to move ahead with the expansion of the water plant’s capacity to 20 million gallons per day. The 20-mgd expansion would take up to three years to construct at an estimated cost of $21 million. The effect on water rates would depend on the amount of water the regional system could sell with the extra capacity.
* The Human Resources Committee will report on a meeting it held Thursday about the employee assistance plan.
* Williams will follow up on the issue of privilege licenses. Businesses that were known to be delinquent on their privilege license payments had a deadline of Friday to pay up.
* Council member Mary Emma Evans has requested a closed session on personnel matters.
The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers at the Municipal Building. There will not be a Speak Up Henderson forum tonight.