What next?

Oct. 3 recommendation against his zoning change.

Burda is the former owner of JB Acquisitions LLC, the indoor auto and machinery salvage yard at the intersection of Grove Avenue and Homewood Drive in South Lorain.

He ran afoul of city officials due to junked cars and run-down conditions at the South Lorain site.

The former site sold to new owners, but Council members said they remembered his actions there and do not want a repeat on Elyria Avenue.

Council action

On Nov. 19, Burda explained that in February 2017, he purchased the former American Auto Wrecking, which was a third-generation auto junkyard.

There were at least two parcels involved there, so Burda asked city officials to change zoning from B-1 General Business, and from R-3 Residential, to I-2 Heavy Industrial so he could operate a salvage yard dedicated to breaking down parts from Ford super-duty trucks.

“We want to bring it into the modern, current era of salvage yards and develop more buildings on it,” he said.

The land is surrounded by other salvage yards and land owned by Ohio Edison, so it is not necessarily a residential area, Burda said.

Two homes that abut the property were built with the owners knowing the salvage yard was there, he said.

Burda said he was led there by guidance from the city due to the presence of other salvage yards.

The cars left on the site would be scrapped, he said.

The Planning Commission recommended denial of the zoning change Oct. 3.

In the Nov. 19 Council meeting, Mayor Chase Ritenauer explained objections he heard from Council members.

“My personal opinion was, I didn’t want to see it go from B-1 to I-2,” Ritenauer said. “There seemed to be pretty much, as far as I’ve heard, unanimous view of the matter. I happen to agree with it.”

More objections

Councilwoman-at-Large Mary Springowski blasted Burda’s plan and noted he faced legal action due to conditions at the Grove Avenue site.

Lorain’s Ward 5 “is not a dumping ground,” Springowski said, adding she is “absolutely opposed to this.”

“You do not live in the

city,” she said. “You live in North Ridgeville, yet you will come into the city of Lorain to do your, quoteunquote, salvage work, the dirty work, as is this is a dumping ground.

“The residents of that ward deserve better than that.”

Burda’s property borders on Broadway, a major entrance into Lorain, Springowski said.

Ward 6 Councilman Angel Arroyo Jr. agreed with Springowski.

Ward 4 Councilman Greg Argenti said he understands Burda’s history in the city.

But Argenti said if Council does not deal with the Elyria Avenue area, they must consider what it will become.

Burda’s land is in the vicinity of National Material Recycling Co., 3651 Broadway, and Ely Enterprises Inc., 3809 Broadway, which restores heavy equipment.

Mammoth Automotive Parts, 3675 Broadway, is a salvage business that has created an attractive facility, abiding by city codes, Argenti said.

“What I’m afraid of here, if we don’t keep that property occupied and functioning, what will it become?” Argenti asked about Burda’s site. “And down the road maybe, not in the next year or two or three, but maybe the next five or 10 years, is that, since it changes hands, we could potentially have another Stoveworks on our hand. And we definitely don’t want that.”

He referred to the Stoveworks industrial site that sat for years as a dump at 1200 Long Ave. The city became responsible for the demolition and environmental remediation there, a project that lasted into this year.

For the last 50, 60 or 70 years, the Elyria Avenue auto junkyard likely has chemical contamination including gasoline, oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid and more, which could require a major environmental cleanup, Argenti said.

“We didn’t intend to inherit the Stoveworks, but we did over time, and that is a concern of mine,” he said. “I don’t have a strong inclination to let this person do this, but if not that, then what? I don’t see residential developers coming into that area.”

“The residents of that ward deserve better than that.”

— Mary Springowski