County planners ask for detailed plan for proposed salvage yard near Hutch

Citing the lack of a detailed plan, the McLeod County Planning Advisory Commission is recommending denial of a conditional use permit by Mitchell Niccum to store up to 40 vehicles a year on property he owns in Hutchinson Township.
The commission took up the topic at its Wednesday, Nov. 22, meeting after the issue was bounced back to them by the McLeod County Board of Commissioners.
The commission had a public hearing on the permit application in October, which Niccum did not attend because he was mistaken on the hearing date. Niccum did attend a County Board meeting in early November at which the issue was discussed. County commissioners felt that Niccum should have the opportunity to present to the planning commission and referred the matter back to that group.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Niccum said he is not running a true salvage yard, which is what the home occupation would be classified as under the county’s zoning ordinance.
Niccum said he buys inoperable cars, tries to fix some and scraps others. True salvage yards take apart cars that cannot be fixed and then sell the parts, Niccum indicated.
“It’s because of the number of cars that are unlicensed and inoperable that it’s classified as a salvage yard,” said Zoning Administrator Larry Gasow.
For more from the meeting, see the Nov. 29 print edition of The Chronicle.