A meeting of neighbors seeking to force a Custer Township, Mich., junkyard to clean up was dominated by the business' supporters.
"Whose fault is it if somebody chooses to build their house next to a junkyard?" asked meeting attendee Brenda Cool.
The meeting was formed by a group of neighbors who earlier this month asked the township board to do something about the salvage yard owned by Jim Swain off M-88 highway and Lake of the Woods Road. The facility has been owned and operated by the Swain family for decades, but neighbors say the junked vehicles, school portables, appliances and other items have gotten much closer to the highway and road.
"It is not our purpose to put the Swains out of business, or get the Swains," said one committee member, who asked that his name not be used. "It is to get the junkyard cleaned up, in a presentable manner, and in compliance with the laws of the state of Michigan."
Added attendee Len Strand, "Things have changed a lot there in recent years. It's bringing down the neighbors' property values."
Meeting attendee Dick Hinds asked committee members if they had ever approached the Swains with their concerns, and all present said they had not.
"If I have a problem with my neighbor, I don't run to the township board; I talk to my neighbor," he said.
Crystal Swain, Jim's wife, attended the meeting, and said the committee's list of concerns were "very reasonable." She noted the huge amount of growth in the area in recent years, and the salvage yard's popularity because it is one of the only ones of its kind in the region.
Kelly Chesney, a spokeswoman for the Department of State, told the Record-Eagle earlier Thursday that Swain's business is not properly licensed as a salvage yard. A potential misdemeanor penalty of a $100 fine and/or 90 days in jail exists, Chesney said. However, she said, the state typically works with operators to bring them into compliance.
Prosecutor Charles Koop earlier said that while the county is investigating, it is not seeking to shut down the junkyard.
"The issue is to clean that place up," he said. "There is a need for junkyards. It's just that we are the junkyard for the north." Traverse City (Michigan) Record Eagle