Tonight's Zoning Hearing concerning the Norcini Auto Salvage Yard

This afternoon’s Zoning Hearing Board Meeting consisted of:

1. Reading the attached document.

2. Asking if there were interested parties other than the Norcinis at the meeting.

3. There were no other interested parties and the Zoning Hearing Board ruled in favor of the Norcinis and went home.

The meeting was at 5pm. It was over at 5:08 pm. At least 2 interested people arrived after the meeting was over.

The document they read from is here:

http://www.box.net/shared/jsm9jjqlg9

I think the problem is the area is clearly Zoned Industrial 1 Light Industry (such as an auto repair shop) and a junkyard or salvage yard is zoned Industrial II, Heavy Industry (such as a steel mill or auto salvage yard).

The area is surrounded on two sides by residential; one side by an embankment that is a temporally unused portion of Graham Avenue and one side by a railroad.

I think the Norcinis are clearly operating an auto salvage yard in an area zoned for Light Industrial and to comply the area should be rezoned Heavy Industrial.

I am not sure if the difference between I-1 and I-2 was ever addressed by the City of Coatesville.

I am no expert but in my opinion it’s possible that using this ruling as a guide every property zoned Light Industrial in Coatesville is up for grabs as Heavy Industrial. If you look at the map I-1 is nearly the entire area in the east end of Coatesville just south of the railroad tracks. All of Fleetwood Street, Elm Street, part of Coates Street, part of 10th Avenue, part of 11th Avenue, part of Chestnut Street, part of 12th Avenue and part of Diamond Street.

Coincidently, most of the Light Industrial area is in an area traditionally occupied by black folks.

But my opinion doesn’t count. I am not a city solicitor. I guess you need to ask former Coatesville City Solicitor Andrew Lehr what his reasoning was.

The City of Coatesville Code is here:
http://www.ecode360.com/?custId=CO0344

The City of Coatesville Zoning Map is here:

http://coatesville.org/forms/codes_zoningmap.pdf

The “Norco Auto Salvage Yard” website is here with photos of the Coatesville yard:

http://norcoautosalvage.com/services.nxg




Also see this post:

Junk Yard on Elm Street Zoning Hearing
http://coatesvilledems.blogspot.com/2009/12/junk-yard-on-elm-street-zoning-hearing.html

The City of Coatesville's previous Janssen Administration wanted to re-establish the Graham Avenue link between Elm Street and Blackhorse Hill Road. The underpasses can be flooded during severe rainstorms and the only way to access the area on the east end of Coatesville north of the railroad tracks is at the top of Blackhorse Hill Road by way of First Avenue and the Rt. 30 bypass. It is a considerable distance for emergency vehicles to travel. The difficulty in doing this is rebuilding the bridge over the railroad.