<VV> Editorial on Junk Car Ordinance

[Hank Kaczmarek]

Good morning all

I was so pleased by the action of the Planning Board and Commission, I didn't
see the editorial on one of the back pages. This was written by the man who
owns and publishes the Lincoln Times News. I wasn't expecting his support in
any way.  I will be writing a letter to be published in tomorrow's or Monday's
edition. Gonna work on it today. Because of my severance, I can't even apply
for unemployment for a week, what the hell else do I have to do???


Here's the text of the article Titled TIME TO CLAMP DOWN ON JUNK CAR EYESORES

    Time has come to do something about junk cars left rusting away in the
front yards of Lincoln's residential communities. They are eyesores and
reflect poorly on neighborhoods where property owners seek to present an
appealing, pleasant landscape for their community that enhances property
values.  The county's Building and Land Development office has reported a
flood of complaints about junk cars trashing up neighborhoods. The Lincoln
County Board of Commissioners is now considering an ordinance that would
restrict then number of junk cars from four to one, and provide that such
vehicles be kept in the back yard.
    A junk vehicle is currently defined as one that does not display a current
plate and is partially dismantled or wrecked, cannot be moved in the manner it
was originally intended to move, and or is more than five years old and
appears to be less than 100.00
    But the fact is, most of us know a "junk car" when we see it and and in
many cases we've seen it sitting in the same place for years.
    Commissioners should take care when adopting these restrictions that
allowances are provided for the hobbyists who restore old and antique cars.
These cars are not eyesores by the time that the hobbyist gets through with
them,  but at times they may be a work in progress. An ordinance can be
written that excludes this element of car owners, provided they can store
these cars in a tasteful manner.
    Restrictions on junk cars are already in place on most communities. Other
counties studied have already have more stringent junk car standards than
Lincoln---Catawba and Union allow none, Rockingham and Johnston allow one,
Gaston allows three.
    Some showed up at Monday's public hearing to tout the plight of property
owners to do anything they want with their own property. That would be just
fine if we could count on all of our neighbors to show sensitivity and
responsibility about the quality of their environment.  Unfortunately, such
attributes are lacking in some of our residential communities.