Neighbors oppose proposed salvage yard near Pleasant Hill Church Road; applicant offers engineering and buffer commitments

Residents who live adjacent to a ~24-acre parcel along Atlanta Highway SE told the Statham City Council on Aug. 4 they oppose a conditional-use permit for a salvage yard because of proximity to homes, potential pollution of a nearby creek and negative effects on neighborhood character.

"I am here to oppose the salvage yard," said Larry Baker, whose house he said would be about 120 feet from the proposed yard, calling for denial or at least an expanded buffer. Several other nearby property owners raised similar environmental and quality-of-life concerns, citing noise, headlights and potential runoff into creeks.

Applicant Stanton Porter, representing property owner Selvin Giron, described a plan for a single 10,000-square-foot building and said the salvage yard would sit below grade in the site's topography. Porter told council he had completed full engineering for the project and offered to make those stormwater plans publicly available in the council packet. "I'll provide to the city and certainly ask that they hopefully make it part of the packet so it can be publicly available," Porter said.

Porter confirmed the staff-recommended 50-foot natural buffer and said he would be willing to discuss extending the buffer or adding landscape screening. He also described proposed chain-link fencing around the site while noting that planted landscape buffers can provide better screening and sound mitigation than fencing alone.

Planning staff recommended approval with two conditions including a requirement that no salvage uses occur north of an existing gas easement traversing the property and that a minimum 50-foot wide natural buffer be replanted where sparsely vegetated abuts residential or agricultural districts. The council did not take a final vote on CU2602 that night.