NEIGHBORS SPEAK OUT AGAINST AUTO STORAGE AREA

JACKSON, Mo. -- A neighbor Monday night called a motor vehicle storage business proposed in an uptown area of Jackson "a cancer on our beautiful city."

At a public hearing before the Jackson Board of Aldermen, Jim Beattie was one of three people who spoke against granting a special-use permit to Mr. and Mrs. Mike Turbeville to operate the business. The area at 402 E. Adams St. is zoned I-2 for heavy industrial but contains a number of residences.

The Planning & Zoning Commission voted 5-2 to approve the special-use permit, with eight conditions, among them a 10-foot-high privacy fence and a requirement that no motor vehicles can be stacked on other vehicles.

Petitions were received both for and against the permit.

As proposed, the business would store a small number of vehicles for a limited period.

Beattie, who lives at 321 E. Adams St., called the business a breeding ground for vermin, an environmental hazard and said it would devalue property.

"Let's look at the stock this business has and call it what it is -- junk," he said.

Helen Seabaugh, another neighbor, said a 20-foot-high privacy fence would be needed to shield the site from everyone's view because of the lay of the land. She also charged the owner has been operating the business improperly for eight months and questioned the city's enforcement of its codes. No one rebutted her allegation.

The item will be scheduled for a vote by the board April. 2.

In other business, the board accepted the donation of a 300-kilowatt generator from Southwestern Bell.

The generator will be used as a backup at the police and fire station, which becomes the county emergency command center in event of a disaster. The generator is valued at as much as $100,000.

PUBLIC HEARING

7:30 p.m. Monday, March 19

City Hall

* Held hearing to consider the request for a special- use permit for the establishment and operation of a motor vehicle storage business in an I-2 (heavy industrial) district at 402 E. Adams St. as submitted by Mr. and Mrs. Mike Turbeville.

Action Items

Power and Light committee

* Approved motion readopting and reconfirming the city's position of authorizing the acquisition of easements and right of ways necessary to provide for park extensions and connections with hiking and biking trails along Hubble Creek in addition to providing for flood control and infrastructure and utility corridors.

* Accepted donation of an emergency backup generator from Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. and authorizing the transfer of a generator from the Jackson Fire Department to the Cape Girardeau County Emergency Preparedness Mobile Communications Center.

* Considered a bill proposing an ordinance accepting dedication of water line easements from Ryan and Laurie Davis and McCombs Funeral Home.