Auto Shredder Required to Meet Compliance Goal Before Receiving License

A Columbus, Ohio, car shredding business will not receive a license to operate if the owner does not comply with specifications of the permit, according to Code Enforcement Manager Dana Rose.

Rose said Columbus Auto Shredding Inc. applied for its license after March 9, when owner Randall Hall was cited for code violations.

The business has been in operation since October, when an application for a variance and a building permit to construct the facility were filed.

Hall, who was not available for comment at press time, was cited for operating without a license, violation of a special permit requiring an opaque fence, storage of salvage higher than 10 feet and storing salvage material outside the building.

Mike Wiles, president of the Council of South Side Organizations (CSSO), said something needs to be done about the operation.

Representatives of the company first appeared before members of CSSO in 2000, Wiles said.

"We looked it over. It was not the best type of industry. We figured it would turn into a junk yard," he said. The proposal called for building the facility on the site of a former landfill.

The operators assured members of CSSO that the business would not become a junkyard, as vehicles would be shredded and trucked out as soon as they came onto the lot.

At about the same time, Rose said, Hall's business appeared before the Board of Zoning Adjustments.

A month or two ago, Wiles said, he began getting calls about stacks of cars, buses and other vehicles collecting outside the business.

The operation visible to those driving by on state Route 104, Wiles said.

The complaints were justified.

Wiles turned the issue over to Neighborhood Liaison Jo Anne St. Clair, who reported it to code enforcement.

Rose said the company should have had a license to operate, and said Hall was either unaware it was needed or failed to obtain one.

The company was given 20 days to comply, Rose said.

Immediately after being cited, he said, an application for an operator's license was filed and problems began to be corrected.

As long as the owners are trying to get something done, Rose said, code enforcement is willing to work with them.

An inspector with code enforcement went to the site on April 12, according to Rose. Reports from the inspector indicate considerable work had been done to get the outside cars off the site or shredded.

"It is supposed to be done this weekend," Rose said.

Inspectors will return April 26 to determine how the work has progressed.

"I think they had a problem with the machine on the inside," Rose said. "It was not able to operate and the material backed up."

If the company does not meet its deadline, Rose said, the city has the option of taking the owners to court.

"They are trying to get to the point where they don't have anything outside," he said. Columbus (Ohio) This Week