Council asked to enforce Town Code on OuterSpace Bus
Whitaker said that the bus at OuterSpace is a “glaring example” of the Miscellaneous Offenses listed in Chapter 10 of the Town’s Code.
During the public comment period of last week's Floyd Town Council meeting, town resident and Council hopeful David Whitaker said the presence of the bus at OuterSpace goes against Town Code and suggested it be removed.
Whitaker referenced Section 10-41 of Town Code that talks about the storage of inoperable vehicles on property zoned for residential, commercial, or agricultural purposes within town limits. OuterSpace, which is owned by Barbara Gillespie, is a part of the town’s B1 (commercial business) zoning.
Whitaker said that while he “was not that up on the Town Code when I was on Council… I didn’t look at it unless I had a reason to look at it…” the bus at OuterSpace is a “glaring example” of the Miscellaneous Offenses listed in Chapter 10 of the Town’s Code.
He claimed the bus is "inoperable, it’s unlicensed," and said that according to the code, it should be stored in a “fully enclosed building or structure” or be removed by the owners or the Town.
“If they refuse to remove it, then the Town's supposed to move it, and give them a bill for whatever it costs,” Whitaker said. “So I would say, the owner of that property needs to be notified within the next couple of days and given 60 days. That's the code. Either you follow the code, or you don't follow the code.”
Whitaker added that Town Attorney Janet Murrell “might want to take a look at it” to interpret of her own accord, but to him, “it's black and white. It's either/or.”
“If I had a car up on blocks in my yard, you better believe somebody would come to me and say, you can't have that in your yard in Floyd,” he said. “So you do what needs to be done, but I think the owner needs to be notified.”
Mark J. Harris
Floyd County Farm Bureau
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335 E. Oxford St.
Floyd VA 24091
Whitaker also asked why meetings have been starting with a “moment of silence” instead of a “moment of silent prayer.” He said that the Council voted in February 2021 to use the later terminology. At the time, he was a member of the governing body.
Council addressed both of Whitaker’s points near the end of the meeting, and Town Attorney Janet Murrell said the language surrounding the moment of silence that starts each meeting can vary.
Mayor Griffin said he doesn’t intend on specifically changing it unless his fellow Council members request a change. “We don’t all pray the same way,” he said.
Additionally, Griffin said that he doesn’t view the bus at OuterSpace as abandoned since the owner has goods for sale and seating for the restaurant inside of it. “I don’t think those are two in the same,” he said. “I mean, yeah, it’s a vehicle, but it’s not an abandoned vehicle because it’s still being used.”
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OuterSpace owner Barbara Gillespie said this week that the bus has been where is it for about 10 years now and that it is operable. She said the rest of OuterSpace was built around the bus. "It was a purposeful decision," she said. "We wanted to use it as a cool draw for tourists."
Both Gillespie and Councilman Chris Bower noted that the bus was originally used as the coffee bus at FloydFest.
At the meeting, Vice Mayor Chris Bond said he agreed with Griffin, and Councilman Bruce Turner said he’s “pretty sure” the referenced section of code exists to deal more with people who have junk cars sitting around.
Council asked Attorney Murrell to look into the matter and come back with a more formal, researched response.
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Additionally, two votes by Council on Aug. 20 authorized Town Manager Andrew Morris to spend up to $2,500 on two separate projects.
The first is in regard to park improvements and getting power to the far side of the park for community events. Morris said it would likely be a project for the fall and include partnering with OmniBuild for something like a 10-breaker box. The vote was unanimous with Council member Lisa Thompson absent.
The second authorization was for Morris to purchase a gravel bucket attachment for the town’s skid steer, which Morris said will “help a lot for sure” with cleaning up the DonnKenny site.
“It’ll be slower than hiring somebody but (we’ll) still save a lot of money doing it this way,” he said.
Morris noted that a team is working on taking down some of the interior paneling, piping in the ceiling, and some of the electrical in the back, metal part of the building, “but not anything to where I feel like they’re anywhere close to being done.”
That part of the building has been purchased by Jack Wall, who explained after the meeting that it will be reinstalled on some farm land to be used for storage. He said the plan, originally, was to have it down by the end of August, but his team and project manager has been waiting for the weather to cool down.
Mayor Will Griffin asked about the timing on the removal of the asbestos-infected areas during the meeting, and Morris said the project is currently in a holding pattern in that regard but can “pull the trigger whenever.”
The next Floyd Town Council meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3 at 203 E. Oxford St. Find the agenda as it is available and more information here.
