TOLEDO, Ohio — Danelle and Paul Zemenski have lived near Laskey Road and North Detroit Avenue for over 20 years, an area they say can get loud.
"There have been times where we'll be in the bed sleeping, and there will be such a loud boom, it'll literally shake the house," Danelle said.
The Zemenskis live in a section of Toledo where there are four salvage yards nearby. According to them, issues with junk have cost them money, too.
"We have both had to replace at least one tire each from all the junk that gets left at the bottom of our driveway from all the scrap and everything," Danelle said.
Concerns like the Zemenskis' are why Toledo City Council members Theresa Morris and Theresa Gadus brought a six-month moratorium on salvage yards to the table at council's meeting on Wednesday.
Morris says she wants new yards to be in the right place.
"We're putting a pause on the scrap yards and the salvage yards for six months," she said. "It's just for six months while we study and see what we can glean from some of the proximity to the residential areas."
Council has passed several moratoriums this year, including for car washes, storage facilities, and tobacco shops.
Have there been too many moratoriums passed recently, and do they reduce the attractiveness for businesses to move to the Glass City?
"I don't think so because they are short moratoriums," Morris said. "They're only for six months or for very short periods of time. Basically, it's just saying we want our area to be diverse. We don't want one industry to be concentrated in one area."
Fellow council member Mac Driscoll agrees, to an extent.
He says diversity in business is important, but added that certain businesses like scrap yards need the city to approve a special permit before they can open up.
"We do need to be very careful about our approach to business, to make sure we are business-friendly, that things take place that are friendly and compliant with our zoning code, that we can attract all sorts of industries to our city," Driscoll said.
Morris at the meeting on Wednesday requested the moratorium, which was set for a vote, just be a first read and be voted on at a later date.
Driscoll said that if more discussions on the moratorium are not had with committees, he'd vote no on it.