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Geoffrey Gledhill said that reconsideration to approve must be offered by the County <br />Commissioners who voted on the prevailing side of the issue. <br />A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Chair Halkiotis to reconsider <br />the approval of the assessment of civil penalties for a zoning violation. <br />VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />Geoffrey Gledhill said that civil penalties have not been imposed. <br />Citizen Comment <br />Robert Smith, Attorney far Henry M. Wilson, presented his side of what happened. He <br />explained that when the Wilson's bought this property for Mr. Wilson to run his auto repair garage, it <br />was zoned EC-5. Mr. Wilson bought the property because it was listed as commercial property. He <br />ran the property for 2-112 years and then the zoning was taken away. The court did not order the <br />County to change the zoning back. The court said that, to keep the EC-5 zoning, they needed to hear <br />more evidence about the commercial auto repair shop back in 1981 when the property was first <br />zoned. There was some more evidence presented for auto repair, but the board chose to zone the <br />property back to AR and RB, which is what it is now. He said that it was his feeling that Mr. Wilson <br />should be allowed to continue his business. After the zoning was taken away, at the suggestion of <br />someone from the Planning staff, the Wilson's applied for a home occupation permit. He received the <br />permit, and a challenge was filed with the Board of Adjustment and it was taken away. The Board of <br />Adjustment felt that the main use of the property was not residential. Regarding impact, he said that <br />you could not see this property from Ferguson Road ar from the Lloyds property. There is very little <br />noise and the repair is done within a building. The complaints have been from Barton Lloyd and one <br />other gentleman. The properly has been improved from a large junkyard to a small repair shop. Mr. <br />Wilson has a petition with 581 names supporting him staying in business at this location. He said that <br />Orange County's ordinance does allow a business to continue as a nonconforming use. He feels that <br />Mr. Wilson should be allowed to continue as a nonconforming use. Mr. Wilson is an honest <br />hardworking mechanic and he asked the County Commissioners if this is the kind of person we need <br />to spend time and resources to shut down. He distributed some pictures and told what they <br />represented. He explained that the petition addressed the Board of Adjustment because Mr. Wilson <br />was not certain of the difference between the Board of Adjustment and the Board of County <br />Commissioners. He assured the Board that this petition was for this hearing and not a previous one <br />with the Board of Adjustment. <br />Henry Wilson presented a petition with 581 signatures. The petition reads as follows: <br />"We the undersigned support Wilson's Automotive Repair Business owned by Marion H. <br />Wilson, Jr. at 1220 Ferguson Road; Chapel Hill, NC Tax Map 27B Lot 6A. Ask the Board <br />of Adjustment to uphold the original EC5 Commercial Zoning andlor the Home Occupation <br />Permit granted to Mr. Wilson by Orange County." <br />He also distributed a list of some of the investments he has made to try and improve the <br />appearance of his business. <br />Barton Lloyd, Jr. said that he owns two lots of the adjoining property to Mr. Wilson's. He <br />said that when the farmer owner, Wayne Combs, who understood that he had a nonconforming use, <br />cleared one acre for more junk vehicles, he filed a complaint with the County. In 1982, Mr. Combs <br />filed far a rezoning and it was granted. He said that Mr. Combs immediately sold the property far <br />multiple times of what it was valued for tax purposes, and Mr. Wilson acquired the property to open <br />the garage. He said that Mr. Wilson said that he bought the property knowing full well that the zoning <br />could be challenged. Over a period of four years, the County Commissioners considered this property <br />as not appropriately zoned as EC-5 and it was determined that an automobile repair business would <br />not be allowed on this property. For three years, Mr. Wilson tried to get a home occupation permit <br />and was granted one, which was revoked. In August 1999 a second notice was sent and nothing <br />happened until further complaints were raised with the Planning Department. He feels that assessing <br />civil penalties is the right thing to do. He pointed out that even while this property was rezoned EC-5, <br />