Kewaneeans will again be able to take scrap metal to Larry Neels’s trailer on Second Street, following a City Council decision Monday.
Neels recently purchased the lot at the northwest corner of Second and Walnut streets and parked a trailer there. People in the community would stop by with a piece of scrap and put it on the trailer, and when the trailer was full Neels would take it to a scrapyard.
The City Council put an end to this service earlier this month when they voted 2-2 on a special use permit that would have allowed it to continue.
This Monday, the council changed direction and approved the permit on a 4-1 vote.
Adam Cernovich, one of the two councilmen who had voted against the permit earlier, continued Monday to maintain that collecting scrap in a residential neighborhood violates the city zoning ordinance.
The ordinance says all scrap operations must be at least 1,000 feet from residential properties, or be screened from view.
The police department had objected to screening Neels’s property because it is across the street from the police and fire stations, and the screening could obstruct visibility for emergency vehicles.
The ordinance allowing the special use permit limits the number of vehicles allowed on the property and puts forth regulations on how the scrap can be handled.
Neels told the council he has moved the trailer to another property he owns. He’ll now be able to move it back to the Second Street lot.
He said not collecting scrap on the Second Street lot creates a hardship for people who have a small amount of scrap and don’t want to drive to the scrapyard themselves.
The council voted 4-1 to approve the special use permit, with Cernovich again dissenting.
