WAUPUN — The Waupun City Council discussed a proposed ordinance to limit the public storage of used tires by automotive businesses in Waupun.
This proposed ordinance comes at the insistence of local residents who have made complaints “on a property in the central business district that is allowing used tires to accumulate,” according to the meeting agenda packet.
If the City passes the ordinance, it would require automotive businesses in Waupun to keep tire storage to a minimum and under safe conditions.
The issue primarily stems from the automotive shop Inn-N-Out On Main Automotive. The property is right across the street from City Hall and neighbors the east side of Werner-Harmsen Furniture.
“I get several calls and complaints about the lot across the street from City Hall and the size of the ever-growing tire pile over there,” Mayor of Waupun Rohn Bishop said. “I had it just yesterday where someone at the bank sent me a picture of it calling it a fire hazard. It’s also leaning up against the Werner-Harmsen building and they’re not thrilled about it.”
“I like [the owner] a lot and I’ve gone over to talk to him and asked him to clean up the tires, but he claims he can’t afford it,” he said. “Which he should be able to because in reality when you buy new tires there’s a tire disposal fee.”
Mayor Bishop originally intended to use existing ordinances to force the issue, primarily the ordinance that prohibits places that could breed mosquitoes. However, when he brought it up to the Interim Police Chief Jeremy Rasch, he suggested that it would be better to pass a new ordinance that explicitly deals with the issue.
City Administrator Kathy Schlieve pointed out that this issue has been ongoing for quite some time, and that the City has looked into similar ordinances in the past. They found a similar ordinance in the City of Fond du Lac which limited the number of stored used tires to 100. But she also pointed out that the City does not want to restrict business to an unfair degree, especially when it comes to an important service such as automotive repair.
Following this, the Council discussed the application of the ordinance, pointing out that if a similar situation occurs in the future they’d look into it the same way. During the discussion a suggestion was also brought up to create an exception for recycling facilities.
The Council voted to have the City Attorney draft the ordinance for the Council to adopt at a future meeting.
In the agenda meeting packet they included the wording of the Fond du Lac ordinance that City Administrator Kathy Schlieve used as an example of what they could adopt in Waupun. The following is the wording included in the agenda:
§ 343-12 Storage of rubber tires.
A. Small-scale storage of used tires in excess of 100 units, but fewer than 10,000 units, is not permitted in the City.
B. Small-scale storage of new tires in excess of 300 units, but fewer than 10,000 units, shall be protected by an approved automatic fire suppression system.
C. Large-scale storage of 10,000 or more new and used tires shall comply with NFPA 231D, Standard for Storage of Rubber Tires.
