Normally when we read stories about junkyards and city government, they aren’t feel good pieces. The majority of them play out the same way, with the city officials chasing the junkyard operator out of business with fines or code violations.The city of Utica, New York is an exception. They are working with the owners of an innovative junkyard to keep them in business. Good stuff!

A pair of Russian brothers, Vladimir and Michael Suprunchik, started a unique indoor junkyard in Utica last year. The started renting a factory building that had not been used in years, bringing in inventory, and stacking the cars on racks inside the building. While it would be cool to see a pick your part operated with a roof over its head, we still think this is a neat idea. It solves lots of the environmental concerns that junkyard haters love to bring up about stuff leaking into the ground and polluting the water supply. We realize that some states, like California, have regulations about cars being on concrete pads and not directly on the ground, but those regs are non-existent in most parts of the Union.

Back to the Russian brothers. As it turns out, the building, which they have been repairing and upgrading as time has gone by, was going to be foreclosed on due to back property taxes. Rather than bury the brothers and their business, the city has elected to sell them the building for the amount of back tax owed.

That means the employees keep working, the city continues to make sales tax on the parts sold, and hopefully the guys can continue to grow the business. Junkyards are a BangShifter’s best friend, we’re glad this one is staying.

Source — Uticaod.com — Officials work to keep indoor junkyard in the area