§ 33-15. Junkyards; repair of automobiles in residential districts.
(a)
No junkyard shall be permitted in a residential district. No junkyard shall be established or enlarged without a permit from the Department, and the permit shall not be issued unless the same has been approved by the appropriate zoning board, after public hearing.
(1)
Junkyards shall be surrounded by a solid wall eight (8) feet high, and this wall shall be of C.B.S. construction and painted and maintained in order to present a good appearance.
In lieu of a C.B.S. wall, an eight-foot-high cyclone-wire type fence with top rail may be substituted, such wire fence to be interwoven with wooden, metal or plastic strips to create a solid screening site barrier. If wire fencing is used, a two-foot concrete (on footing) or heavy sheet metal curb (imbedded at least two (2) feet in the ground) shall be placed immediately adjacent to and inside such fence to prevent runoff of oil, transmission fluid and other contaminants onto adjacent properties or into adjacent waterways that may result from junking operations.
Whether a C.B.S. or interwoven cyclone-wire fence is used, all gates shall be of the cyclone-wire type, interwoven with wooden, metal or plastic slats in order to screen the interior of the yard when the gates are closed.
(2)
In addition, whether a fence or wall encloses the junkyard, an appropriate hedge made up of native tree or plant species such as southern red cedar or other species approved by the Department shall be planted outside the walls or fences, such tree or plant species to be not less than four (4) feet in height at time of planting, five (5) feet on the center and two and one-half (2½) feet from the wall or hedge. In no event shall the junk or scrap be piled higher than the wall or fence unless the hedge around the entire site grows above the wall or fence and forms a solid screen; in that event the scrap or junk may be piled up to the height of the hedge.
(3)
All existing junk and scrap yards shall be made to comply to all of the foregoing requirements within a period of two (2) years from the effective date of the ordinance from which this section derives and if not so made to comply, they shall be removed and the use discontinued.
(b)
In residential zoning districts, a property owner or tenant on improved property having a principal building may repair or otherwise put into operative condition an automobile of his property, only if all of the following requirements are met:
(1)
The property owner or tenant owns the automobile being repaired;
(2)
The repair activity takes places only during daylight hours;
(3)
While under repair the automobile shall not be parked in front of the principal building on the property unless the side yard and/or the rear yard are not accessible; and
(4)
The work undertaken at the premises to repair or otherwise put the automobile into operative condition shall be limited to minor repairs only. The term "minor repair" includes any work which is completed within seventy-two (72) hours including, but not limited to, change of tires, replacement of batteries, change of oil, replacement of brakes and engine tune-up. Any other work, including work wherein the vehicle engine or transmission is removed or lifted from the vehicle for repair or replacement, or the vehicle is placed on blocks with the tires removed, is prohibited.
(Ord. No. 57-19, § 5(K), 10-22-57; Ord. No. 66-42, § 1, 9-20-66; Ord. No. 72-95, § 1, 12-19-72; Ord. No. 82-68, § 3, 7-20-82; Ord. No. 91-14, § 1, 2-5-91; Ord. No. 95-215, § 1, 12-5-95; Ord. No. 03-160, § 2, 7-8-03)