Salvage yards have planning board support

They say they provide an important service of recycling vehicles and offering inexpensive car parts. They say there are few industrially zoned areas in the city large enough to store hundreds of junk cars.

Councilman Keith Bates has been pushing for the demise of salvage yards since he was first elected in 2005.

"It distracts from the beauty of the city, and it detracts from the neighborhoods," he said.

John Diffin, owner of Diffin Auto Salvage on Horseshoe Road, said his operation is not an eyesore. A fence shields the property out front, and he said his business can’t been seen from nearby Yadkin Road. He doesn’t know what he would do if he had to close.

"I’m so old that I’m not ready to move," the 86-year-old said.



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