NEWBERRY — On Wednesday, January 17, Newberry County Council held a work session to discuss and go over revisions made to the Nuisance Ordinance draft since the third reading in December.
The codes saw the removal of language and sections and the addition of one section. These changes considered the concerns of residents and council and sought to help clarify any confusion.
“Being responsive to the feedback you’ve gotten from residents, we pumped the brakes a little bit and took a look at a lot of aspects of the ordinance,” said County Administrator Jeff Shacker.
The focus of many of the changes was on vehicles, structures and vegetation, addressing what is and is not a concern for the time being. The codes have not been finalized and are still subject to change.
“In subsection two…we struck the definition of an abandoned junk vehicle,” Shacker said.
The definition of junk vehicle, which was “any vehicle, automotive or marine, that is mechanically inoperable, including any vehicle that is wrecked or partially dismantled, and has been unregistered for a period longer than 30 days,” is no longer in the ordinance. This included the proposed idea to have said vehicles screened from view.
Councilman Travis Reeder did ask if there would be a code for the vehicles since the language was removed.
“We actually have a current ordinance on the books and the number of vehicles is two,” said Shacker. “And if there are two, it requires they be screened from the public right of way.”
The code includes vehicles that cannot be operated legally on a public street. The current code may be changed in the future as the ordinance codes change.
The language focusing on the accumulation of vegetation, which was considered as any natural growth, was removed alongside the accumulation of decaying vegetable matter. This included the growth of weeds, grass and all naturally growing plants, regardless of height, or smell, if they are poisonous and constitute fire, traffic and/or safety hazards. The decision was made to protect Newberry’s agricultural properties.
“Council made it clear that protecting agricultural property, personal and real, was a priority,” Shacker said.
This also included odors associated with growth and the agricultural spreading of manure. This does not include odors associated with decaying animal and human matter or rubbish and garbage, as those are still considered to be a nuisance.
A section was added to help clarify what a safe and/or uninhabitable structure is. The section defined it as one that does not have water, sewer, electricity and other utilities in a structure that is unsafe and a violation of the codes. Properties that have lumber or other building materials unscreened were decided not to violate the draft.
“We removed building materials from subsection K…and then completely got rid of subsection L, which deals with lumber, building fixtures and the like,” said Shacker. “I think a good point was made, sometimes folks may have lumber out because they’re building deer stands or they’ve got some activity going on that really fits with the property.”
Questions were still raised on how the codes would be enforced, especially if the property owner did not live on the property, or how people could receive help by asking churches for help removing rubbish or receiving help in areas they need it, such as getting utilities. The questions were taken into consideration and will help with further revisions of the Nuisance Ordinance, which is not finalized yet.
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