Planning Commission to consider junkyard rezoning request June 21

Words have meaning, but what if definitions are up for debate?

That’s partly where the Bradley County Commission, County Planner Ron Wilson and the Bradley County Regional Planning Commission found themselves.

At the County Commission work session on Monday, June 10, Richard Burnette, Chairman of the Planning Commission, was recognized by Commissioner Mike Hughes – also a Planning Commissioner – to speak about an Old Powerline Road property NE which was not in compliance with the Bradley County Zoning Ordinance for the past year.

Owned by Ryan McCartt, the property in question is the site of McCartt’s business, The Scrap Yard.

For the second time in the past year, McCartt submitted a rezoning request for his property in hopes of bringing it into compliance. Currently zoned C-1, for rural commercial district, McCartt hopes the property will be rezoned to I-2 Special Impact Industrial District zoning.

In July 2023, the Planning Commission voted to deny the rezoning of the property, and the County Commission followed that recommendation and took a unanimous vote against rezoning the property on September 5, 2023. .

Since then, McCartt has continued to operate his business in non-compliance, after receiving a notice from the county that he is in violation of the zoning ordinance and is assessed a $50 daily fine.

When the county commission received a resolution May 20 asking the county to take legal action against McCartt for noncompliance, the commission voted 12-1 on a superseding motion to allow the planning commission to hear the new rezoning request before the county commission makes a decision.

At the June 10 meeting, Burnette argued that “nothing has changed with the property as it is,” asking, “Why is it going back to (the planning commission)?”

In response, Commissioner Milan Blake said: “It’s basically about giving this application process the last chance to be heard, but if I understand you correctly… the applications are identical?

Burnette said the 2023 rezoning application was to accommodate a scrap yard, and the new application is for a recycling center, adding, “If you go there…it’s actually a scrap yard.”

He then read the definition of a recycling collection center in the Bradley County Zoning Resolution, which states: “(A recycling collection center is) an establishment, place of business, facility or building that is maintained, operated or used for storage, conservation, purchase. or the sale of used computers or computer parts, newspapers, or food or beverage containers for the purpose of converting those items into a usable product.

Looking back at the May 20 commission meeting, Commissioner Cindy Slater said her interest in having the planning commission hear McCartt’s new rezoning request was in response to Ron Wilson, county planner, who said to the commission that McCartt “purchases materials – cars or whatever –. bring them in, then put them in trucks and ship them.

This operation was described by Wilson as recycling, with Wilson adding that Bradley County’s zoning ordinance “needs some clarification” because he believes there is currently no suitable area for recycling.

Burnette then showed an aerial photo of McCartt’s property showing several cars on the lot, noting he felt it showed it was not a recycling business, as defined in the zoning resolution of Bradley County.

Additionally, the acreage is less than the 25-acre minimum requirement for a junkyard, which is the main reason the planning commission declined to recommend rezoning the property last year.

Describing it as a “massive confusion,” Commissioner Josh Rogers said: “(On May 20) when Commissioner Slater asked Mr. Wilson how much land you need to have to be a recycling center, I think that his words were “100 square feet,” and so if that’s what it is, and it’s a recycling center based on what Mr. Wilson says but the planning commission says something else… I think there just needs to be a little clarity.”

Burnette responded: “A lot of people think that when you crush cars, appliances, metals or whatever…you’re recycling. Well, that’s not correct. It’s junkyard. It’s not even a breakage.”

Continuing, Burnette said that if, as defined in the Bradley County zoning resolution, McCartt wanted to convert his business into “a true recycling center,” his property would qualify.

It will be up to the Planning Commission to determine at noon on Friday, June 21 whether the definitions of these operations contained in the zoning resolution will be maintained.

The county commission’s May 20 decision to delay legal action against McCartt to allow the planning commission to consider his rezoning request has constrained another area junkyard owner, Carl Keasler, owner of Keasler Inc., to dump two trailers full of electronic devices in the parking lot of the Peerless Road Recycling Center.

McCartt then took it upon himself to clean up Keasler’s mess, hauling two rolling trailers to the Chattanooga recycling center.

This is a developing story. The Cleveland Daily Banner will post more information as it becomes available.