Salvage Yard Receives Permit to Operate

Morgan County, Colorado, commissioners approved a permit with conditions for two men who sought to operate a salvage yard and sell used farm equipment on the outskirts of Brush, Co.

The decision came despite strong opposition from the City of Brush, the Brush Area Chamber of Commerce and from a hefty list of petitioners.

Commissioners met two weeks ago to hear discussions on all sides of the issue -- including voiced opposition from Chamber Executive Director Ron Prascher and Assistant City Administrator Karen Schminke -- and had been under a 15-day advisement period.

After touring the site, commissioners felt they had gathered enough information to make a decision.

"After thinking about it, you try to fit a business into a community the best you can," said Commissioner John Crosthwait, who lives in Brush. "Land use issues are always the toughest decisions to make."

In fact, the issue was so complex that hearings and debates have been ongoing since January. "I thought the best thing to do is do as much as you can to make an enterprise work and fit into the community. I think these guys are going to do that."

Crosthwait also said he was reminded of a comment made by one of the two men at an earlier hearing. "The applicants had said, 'Give us a chance to prove ourselves.' I think we should give them the chance."

The conditions established before the scrap yard can operate include the installation of an approved privacy fence must be built to hide all scrap salvage stored on the east side of the lot, while acting as as a barrier against trespassing.

The fence will also conceal the recycling of metal products. "The property is already in the process of being fenced," Crosthwait added. All unsightly materials, then, "will be screened by an opaque fence no less than eight feet tall."

It is also required that the entrance to the property have a sign reading, "No dumping of items," and include business hours.

"In regards to scrap metal for recycling, it has to be stored out of site or in a building behind the privacy fence."

Used appliances such as washers, dryers and stoves can only be kept on site if stored within a closed building.

Junk automobiles taken to Denver for recycling are required at all times to be stored on a licensed, operable trailer -- never on the ground.

If the owners of the facility need to store automobiles for more than 24 hours, they must move the trailer behind the privacy fence.

An amendment was made to the motion, allowing the men to store the trailer in the staging or loading areas near the property's entrance for 24 hours if necessary. A variance, therefore, will not be required, Arndt noted.

Lastly, the sale of used farm equipment portion of the application was approved.

Schminke, Brush's assistant city administrator, said she had no emotional reaction to the decision and that she wasn't surprised at it, either. "It appears that the commissioners have a lot of trust in the applicants to be a good neighbor and run their business as described in the proposal -- one with minimal visual impacts to the neighborhood."