Non-Conforming Use Approved For Salvage Yard

A 53-year-old Dunbar Township salvage yard was recognized this week as a non-conforming use of land by the Fayette County, PA, Zoning Hearing Board.

Butchko Brothers Inc. Auto Recycling in Dunbar Township is situated on land zoned M-1, light industrial, and, in some places, A-1, agricultural/rural.

Owner Diana Omatick originally petitioned the board to have the county recognize and expand the non-conforming use to include the agricultural/rural section. She removed that portion of the request, however, at the onset of the hearing.

The board upheld Omatick's amended request because the business was established before Fayette County's zoning ordinance was adopted in 1968, and has remained in continuous operation. Her attorney, Mark Brooks, simply presented evidence to that effect, including a tax document from 1952 and a Daily Courier article and photograph published in 1965.

"It's been there for ages," Omatick said.