TURKEY — An ordinance for the removal of abandoned and nuisance vehicles is now gone following a decision from a split board.

The action took place during a public hearing before a Tuesday board meeting. It was discussed during a June meeting after residents mentioned untagged vehicles. Commissioners Tony Moore and Max Pope voted to keep the rules, while Commissioners Rudy Blackburn and Mike Smith were against it.

Turkey Mayor Donald Myers’ decision to eliminate the ordinance broke the tie.

Moore felt the ordinance was clear and didn’t want to “throw the baby out with the bathwater,” for a few concerns.

“I don’t see anything spelled out in here that any good law-abiding citizen would have a problem with or should have a problem with,” Moore said.

It was originally adopted July 20, 1995 by the town council. Since that day, commissioners said they were unsure if cars were ever actually removed because of problems.

According to the ordinance, a nuisance vehicle is defined as a motor vehicle on public or private property that is determined and declared to be a health or safety hazard. An abandoned vehicle is anything left on a public street or highway and kept for several days. It’s also defined as a vehicle left on property by the town for 24 hours or private property for more than two hours.

Myers and commissioners opposed to the ordinance believed it would violate people’s personal property, space or can be used as a vendetta against another neighbor.

“If you get in that language deep enough, things can be used as … I’m going to say it again, a weapon,” Blackburn said before stating an example. “I don’t care much for Mr. Tom and I’m tired of his old truck sitting in that yard. You can say it got some old plywood sitting back there. You could take this language to take it anywhere you want it.”

He later referred to Moore’s baby and the bathwater comment.

“Nobody knows within the last 25 years if anything has been towed away,” Blackburn continued. “The ordinance has been there and there’s no need to throw out the bathwater, but if the bathwater is dirty and it could be used for dirtiness, why have anything in there?”

Moore said the town would not be doing its job regulating rules and letting a few disgruntled residents run how things are done. Before the vote, Pope wanted to offer clarification to the ordinance and define what is considered a public nuisance or safety hazard. Moore suggested having an attorney look at it before a decision was made.

“I’m not about a bunch of regulations or deregulating everything out there,” Moore said. “I live here and just like everyone else, we all have a lot invested in this area. I want to see it in a good light.”

Myers felt it was just another ordinance taking away people’s freedom on their property. Moore didn’t see it that way.

“We’re talking about a town,” Moore said. “We’re not talking about somebody with a little spot out in the country doing want they want to do. If you’ve got property and you’ve got people around you, you have to have respect for the people around you.”

As a small town, Myers and other commissioners said it puts a burden on residents when it comes to the regulations.

When asked what was considered a nuisance, Code Enforcer Lyle Moore said it could be things such as vehicles attracting rodents, holding water to attract mosquitoes or a danger such as jacked vehicle falling on a child playing around a car. He felt the language was very clear and has not seen many cases where it would apply to anyone.

“If you don’t have a license plate on your car and you’re cutting grass around it, it’s not a nuisance to me and that’s just the nature of what it is,” said code enforcer Moore. “But if you’re letting the grass grow taller than the windows in it or stuffing trash in it or stuffing debris, yes, it’s a nuisance.”

Smith said residents have mentioned a vehicle sitting in his yard without tags. He said he keeps the yard around the vehicle clean and there’s nothing growing around it.

“The only way they could have found out there was no tags on it — they had to be on my property to have seen it,” Smith said. “I don’t believe in going on other people’s property. As long as I keep my stuff the way it needs to be, no one has business on my property.”

Smith continued and expressed how Turkey was different from other towns.

“We’re not Clinton, we’re not Newton Grove, we’re not Garland, we’re not Fayetteville, we’re not Goldsboro — we’re Turkey,” Smith said. “I don’t see how people could compare us. People who’ve grown up in these big cities and they come down here, stay down here, and think we’re supposed to be like big places are, that’s out of the question. That’s the way I feel.”

Like Blackburn, he didn’t have a problem with keeping the ordinance, but didn’t want people pointing out particular vehicles every meeting. Commissioner Moore said a few people shouldn’t eliminate an ordinance that was meant for good.

Following the discussion, Moore later made a motion to keep the ordinance, before a second motion was proposed to do away with it.

“I think we’re making a mistake, gentlemen,” Commissioner Moore said.

Turkey Commissioners Max Pope, Mike Smith and Rudy Blackburn review documents during a meeting.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_Turkey_1.jpgTurkey Commissioners Max Pope, Mike Smith and Rudy Blackburn review documents during a meeting.
Split board mulls ‘nuisance’ definition, property rights

By Chase Jordan

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Reach Chase Jordan at 910-249-4617. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.