Staff Writer
The city of Wilmington’s code enforcement official has informed the owner of Cartoons Auto Salvage on the far east end of Columbus Street that he must stop using the site as a junkyard.
But Gordon Bingham, the property owner, said Tuesday he was running a salvage business on the site prior to September 2008 when Wilmington City Council banned junkyards within city limits, and moreover, he said he has a salvage license from the state.
Bingham feels that because his salvage operations predate the city ordinance prohibiting junkyards in town, his salvage business is grandfathered in and thus legal.
However, Wilmington Code Enforcement Official Ernie Blankenship wrote a letter this month to Bingham in which he alleges the use of the land as a junkyard violates the city planning and zoning code. Blankenship wrote that he researched the city’s files “and no certificate of occupancy for your business was found.”
Such a certificate, wrote Blankenship, “if obtained prior to the ordinance passing [in September 2008], may have allowed you to have a non-conforming use” of the in-town parcel of land as a junkyard.
The 805 E. Columbus St. parcel, which is about 3.9 acres in size, is in a district zoned industrial, according to city officials. The September 2008 ordinance prohibited a junkyard use in all zoning districts inside the city, according to a copy of the ordinance.
This segment of Columbus Street is north of Rombach Avenue.
On Tuesday, Bingham said, “We’re not here to make an eye-sore for the city. We’re willing to work within the guidelines.”
He added he does need to put up more privacy slats to obscure the scene of the junk vehicles from nearby streets. The fencing will probably get installed in a few weeks, he said.
A quick check by Bingham’s office manager turned up a state salvage license going back to 2005.
Wilmington City Hall has received complaints about the junkyard, including at a city council meeting last Thursday during public comment.
Bingham operates B&M Transmission at the same East Columbus Street location as Cartoons Auto Salvage. The two businesses employ seven people.
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