Aiken County Will Not Use Taxpayer Dollars To Put Fence In Front Of Junkyard

Aiken SC—It didn’t take long for Aiken County Council members to put this to a vote, as it was the first item on their agenda. And Council members voted unanimously not to spend the $50,000 they first planned to spend on B and W Auto and Truck Parts.

The trucks and other vehicles along US 1 in Aiken County have become an eyesore for some drivers, and that’s why Aiken County Council members agreed to spend $50,000 to help with the problem, but not anymore.

Scott Singer, Aiken County Council member: “Based on different information, including the fact that we have gotten the attention of the apportiate state authorities…“

They wanted to help built a privacy fence to hide the eyesore, but Tuesday night, Council members decided to leave the project to the hands of the state. That’s because the property is located along a state highway.

Singer says Council members wanted to help at first because of an old law.

Singer: “It basically comes out of some of the Lady Bird Johnson Highway Beautification federal progams, and it basically said that local goverment or state government, if there’s an existing junkyard can erect a privacy fence at the rightaway state line.“

These vehicles have been here for years. According to Singer the owner has a court order from 1986 that states he can leave these vehicles parked here on a temporary basis, but the order never defined ‘temporary.‘

Now that the county isn’t dishing out the cash to cover the scrap, it’s up to the state to help the owner out.

The owner of B and W Auto and Truck Parts was not present at the meeting.

Council members say it’s up to the South Carolina Department of Transportation to step in.