ASHLAND — A squabble over a fence shielding a junkyard in Ashland could soon go to court again.
There are two metaphorical sides of this fence. On one side is a frustrated group of residents who argue the makeshift fence isn’t performing the way it should, posing a safety threat to children and others.
On the other is a defiant property owner who has repeatedly refused to follow the city’s rules surrounding the proper installation of fences.
And then there’s the city, who sits on the fence. Officials are currently mulling whether to go straight to court with the owner or send a letter that threatens such action.
The problem, however, is that the city has already sent two letters —and gone to court once, records show.
“I hate to sound cynical, but given the history of this property, I think sending a letter would be an exercise in futility,” said Andrew Bush, the city’s assistant law director.
Where is this fence?
The fence belongs to Barbara Tucker of Mansfield. Ohio business filings show the 80-year-old has owned Ashland Auto Salvage LLC since 2006.
Efforts to reach Tucker for comment on this story failed.
The junkyard spans three parcels across approximately two acres. The entrance is along West 15th Street and Myers Avenue in the city’s 4th ward.
But the junkyard’s innards are visible to residents who live along 15th, 14th and 13th streets thanks to what officials and residents describe as a failing fence.
Angela Woodward, the city’s 4th ward council member, said the fence is made of various sizes of metal roofing panels. Over the years, those panels have fallen and deteriorated, she said.
And when the wind blows hard, the metal fencing’s “horrible sounds” disrupt neighbors’ peace along West 14th Street, Woodward said.
What’s the problem?
Simply put, the fence violates the city’s ordinances.
City records show two letters sent to Tucker over six years.
Shane Kremser, the city’s engineer, sent a letter to the junkyard’s owner in 2019. The letter cited three violations related to the fence and gave the owner 30 days to address the issues, to no avail.
There are three violations of city ordinance related to this fence, according to Kremser, who quoted Chapter 721 of the Codified Ordnances for the City of Ashland.
The first deals with “walls or fences” surrounding junkyards being able to withstand “the force of high winds” and being “kept free from advertising matter and must be kept painted at all times.”
The second violation deals with shielding the bowels of junkyards from public view.
“… the yard shall be enclosed by a wall or a tight, oil painted, grooved board fence, and such wall or board fence shall be so constructed the interior of the yard shall be screened from public view” and be no shorter than eight feet.
The second violation also deals with junkyard entrances, which should be “no more than 14 feet wide and all entrances shall be fitted with nontransparent doors or gates, which shall be kept closed in such a manner to keep the junk or material concealed from pubic view except for such time as is actually necessary for ingress and egress.”
The third violation addresses nuisances caused by “unusable and worn out automobiles.”
“Unusable and worn out automobiles must be disposed of unless kept in garages or otherwise reasonably screened from public view and placed in such condition that they will not become a nuisance by providing a breeding place for mosquitoes.”
The letter didn’t work.
So the city filed suit, 13 months after sending the letter. Ashland Municipal Court records show a 2020 case that has since been closed. Bush, the city’s assistant law director, said “the main issue at that time seems to be the placement of a part of the fence in the city’s right of way.”
Despite the case’s closure, the issue persists.
Kremser again attempted to address the issue in 2022, with another letter. The letter cited the same three violations and again gave the owner 30 days to address it.
“This prompted a meeting with a fence contractor who was pricing replacing the entire fence for the owner,” Kremser said. “The fence contractor called me back a few weeks later and advised me that the owner stated they aren’t doing anything with the fence.”
Residents describe it as a safety issue.
Janice Finley has lived on West 14th Street for 12 years. Over the years, she’s seen “men with backpacks” walk into the junkyard through an open part of the fence and not return.
“And what are they doing?” she said. “They don’t live here.”
Charlotte Martin has lived on West 14th Street with her husband, Don, since 1985. The couple is also worried about children’s safety.
“The fence is falling down and they don’t seem to care to put it up,” Charlotte Martin said. “What if a kid gets in there and gets hurt or something?”
But they also simply dislike the look of it.
“Before, this was all different colors,” said Charlotte Martin, a resident who lives near the junkyard. She was describing the fence. “It was red and green. When you pulled onto the street it was like a circus.”
Charlotte Martin said her brother painted the fence brown so it would look “halfway decent.” Her brother, who declined to be interviewed for this story, plans to move over the issue, Charlotte Martin said.
What now?
Bush said the city plans on filing suit, which is punishable by a fine. He said if the issue continues, the city could implement a heavier fine and could even ask for jail time.
“These types of charges, I don’t know if in my time they’ve ever resulted in jail time. So it would just be more and more fines,” he said.
If that doesn’t work, Bush said the city could also file a civil suit seeking a court order to get the fence removed.
As of October. 16, the city had not filed criminal charges.
Meanwhile, residents on West 14th Street wait for an amicable resolution.
“We don’t want to make anybody mad,” Charlotte Martin said. “We just … could you please get it fixed?”