Toledo Council Drops Moratorium on Scrap and Salvage Yards

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  Toledo City Council on Wednesday scrapped a proposed six-month moratorium on new scrap and salvage yards in the city.

Instead, the council favored an amendment that will allow the Toledo City Plan Commission to conduct a study on the secondary health effects of scrap and salvage yards in Toledo.

The moratorium would have temporarily banned the review and issuance of any zoning permits, building permits, certificates of occupancy, or other licenses or permits for scrap and salvage yards until March 31, 2025.

Councilman Theresa Morris sponsored the legislation after hearing complaints by many residents living near a site on Lewis Avenue whose owner sought a zoning change for a scrap and salvage yard. She said the moratorium was dropped after she determined not enough members of council would vote for it.

As a result, Ms. Morris agreed to the amendment that will allow the plan commission to conduct the study, which was more in tune with what members of council wanted.

“I think some on council were concerned about the overuse of moratoriums. I don’t really think that’s an issue, but I’m just one of 12 on council,” she said right after the meeting ended.

“The most important part of this, anyway, is the study,” she told The Blade. “When someone comes before us for a special use permit for scrap and salvage yard, the study will give us more information so we can make a decision.”

The council recently approved moratoriums on new car wash and storage facilities, and demolition permits for buildings of historical importance while the plan commission conducts studies. 

The new study on scrap and salvage yards will focus on possible secondary health effects they have in adjacent neighborhoods, including air pollution and metallurgical dust issues, noise, sweeping debris on the public right of way, piling of materials, and maintaining proper fencing.

Councilman Nick Komives, who was opposed to the moratorium, said complaints about secondary effects are “an enforcement issue.”

“I’m not opposed to studying this issue,” he said last week during an agenda review meeting of the council. “I’m just really hesitant to ‘moratorium’ everything that we see. There’s no reason to not do the study, but a moratorium is not required to do that. I would fully support a study, but I don’t feel it’s appropriate for a moratorium in this case.”

Also at the meeting, the council gave final approval to allocate the city’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act funding for various uses. The Glass City Riverwalk project received $2 million to rebuild a seawall; the buildout of the Glass City Enrichment Center in East Toledo to facilitate the STARBASE youth program received $500,000; and $3.2 million went for major building improvements at community and senior centers in Toledo.

In other business, the council authorized spending $100,000 from the general fund for the Legacy Corridor Business Resilience Grant Program that will help small businesses impacted by deep road reconstruction projects.

The pilot program would expand to other legacy commercial corridors in Toledo that face similar impacts from road reconstruction projects in the future. For example, Front and Main streets, and Adams Street, scheduled for road reconstruction in 2027, are legacy commercial corridors that could be eligible for funds.  

Last week, Brandon Sehlhorst, Toledo’s commissioner of economic development told The Blade why the legacy corridor grants are important.

“These corridors are primarily pedestrian oriented — developed before the automobile, so most of the buildings are right up against the sidewalks and don’t have parking lots,” Mr. Sehlhorst said. “They would be significantly impacted by a road reconstruction project where we’re replacing curbs and sidewalks.”

Mr. Sehlhorst said businesses impacted by the Broadway corridor road reconstruction project can apply for funds starting Thursday, Oct. 10.

“There will be a link on our website. We’ll also be going door-to-door on October 10th to provide paper applications to those businesses and offer assistance,” he said.

Courtesy: www.toledoblade.com