According to Erris Dunston, Planning Director for the City of Henderson, the first effective date of the recently approved Amortization Ordinance is coming up on September 10 of this year.
Dunston informed the Land Planning Committee during a meeting yesterday at City Hall in response to a question posed by the committee’s chair, Henderson City Council member Bobby Gupton.
When asked by Gupton if she has observed improvements, Dunston informed members that some owners of non-conforming auto repair facilities and auto salvage yards have made good improvements, while others have made no improvements.
One facility is gone, Dunston told members.
She also stated that none of the facilities in question have applied for permits needed under the ordinance. According to the ordinance, establishments have 120 days to apply for the permits.
“I assume then we’re gonna be geared up, when they don’t do anything at all, we’re gonna come down with the ordinance and enforce it immediately. They’ve had a long time to do this,” Gupton said.
Gupton said that he knows that [the city] does not have to do more than it had already done, but he wondered if a letter might be sent out informing owners that 90 days have gone by and that they only have 30 days left to comply.
Dunston expressed a preference for a public service announcement in the paper.
Council member Elissa Yount asked how many businesses were affected by the ordinance. Dunston responded that the number was 25 or 28.
Yount stated that they needed to be kept informed, and that the notice may not be seen if it is put in the paper. She also suggested that deadlines be laid down in any city correspondence, that way the issue would not have to be revisited.
“They’ve been very helpful and they’ve worked with us,” Yount said. “I think we need to work with them.”
The next deadline is 180 days after the 120 day deadline, according to Dunston. That deadline is to obtain a zoning variance.
It was agreed that letters would be sent to the businesses and a public notice would be printed in the paper.
Committee member Lonnie Davis hypothesized that some owners were waiting to file a lawsuit, and that the lawsuit could be a stalling tactic. He added that he did not know of anyone who was planning a lawsuit.
When asked by Gupton how long it would take for owners to get a variance, Dunston replied that they would have to go before the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Before they did that, they would have to have the property in compliance.