From the Thursday, October 16, 2014 Post and Courier article by Diane Knich attached below: "He [Bill Moody] doesn't think the city will buy the land for a farmers market, he said, so he has given up trying to negotiate with neighborhood residents. "I've done all I can do," he said." Mr. Moody forgets who it is that elected him! He's supposed to represent voters, not business. ______________________________________________________________ West Ashley neighborhood residents want a farmers market, not a towing business Diane Knich Diane Knich Email @dianeknich Oct 15 2014 5:16 pm Oct 15 5:44 pm Neighborhood residents are fighting against Turky's Towing opening on Savannah Highway in West Ashley. Ann Mulkey, mother of one of the nine Charleston firefighters who died in the Sofa Superstore fire in 2007 is not happy that the business plans to open next to the memorial site. Neighborhood residents are fighting against Turky's Towing opening on Savannah Highway in West Ashley. Ann Mulkey, mother of one of the nine Charleston firefighters who died in the Sofa Superstore fire in 2007 is not happy that the business plans to open next to the memorial site. Brad Nettles/Staff Residents of a small West Ashley neighborhood are in an uproar over a towing business's plans to open an impound lot and used cars sales business on the edge of their neighborhood, and they're doing everything they can to stop it. But Allison Burky Boone, owner of Turky's Towing, said she and her father, Werner "Turky" Burky, have done all they can to assure neighbors they will run a clean and reputable business, including agreeing to use only the Savannah Highway entrance to the property, not the back entrance on residential Pebble Road. Charlie Smith, who lives near the business and a real estate broker, said he thinks an impound lot and towing business are too industrial for the area. Even with the concessions Burky and Boone have made, their plans just don't fit with the neighborhood, he said. He and other neighbors want the city to buy the land and create a farmers market, he said. That would be an appropriate use of land a block from the West Ashley Greenway. They launched a petition for the farmers market a few days ago on the website change.org, which now has 122 signatures. "I think it would be a win-win for everybody," Smith said. "It's time for the city to make some investment in the neighborhoods over here." The towing business also sits adjacent to the Sofa Super Store memorial site, where nine firefighters died in 2007. The mother of one those firefighters also has objected to an impound lot opening next to the memorial. Boone said she would like the opportunity to explain her business plans to opponents, but they simply won't meet with her and her father and listen to what they have to say. "They are doing everything they can to stop us," Boone said, "but my dad and I are doing everything we can to please them." Burky said he would be willing to sell the property if the residents or the city wanted to buy it. "Everything I have is for sale except my family members." Boone and her father are trying to annex their property, which now sits in Charleston County, into the city of Charleston. That would allow them to apply for city towing contracts. But the city's Planning Commission last month voted against recommending to City Council that it approve the annexation. City Council will vote on the annexation at its Oct. 28 meeting. Boone now could open her towing business as planned under Charleston County rules, which would allow her to use both the Savannah Highway and Pebble Road entrances. But neighborhood residents are trying to close that door as well. Charleston County's Planning Commission earlier this week approved a change in "community commercial" zoning, the type of zoning the property has now, to exclude towing businesses and other industrial uses. Charleston County Council will decide at a future meeting whether to give final approval to that change, said Smith, who also is a member of the county's Planning Commission. If it passes, residents hope it would keep the business from opening. City Councilman Bill Moody, who represents the area, said he worked with Burky and Boone to develop a plan for the business that included closing the Pebble Road entrance, putting high fences around the impound lot and lining them with high-quality landscaping and requiring lighting that wouldn't disrupt the neighborhood. He doesn't think the city will buy the land for a farmers market, he said, so he has given up trying to negotiate with neighborhood residents. "I've done all I can do," he said. But Julie Cole, who lives on Pebble Road and is the mother of three children, said neighborhood residents aren't giving up. There are many children in the neighborhood who ride their bikes and play outside. Residents just want a safe, quiet place for their children to play, she said, so they'll keep fighting for the farmers market. "You'd do anything for your kids." Reach Diane Knich at 843-937-5491 or on Twitter at @dianeknich.