The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – Columbia County has filed criminal charges against county resident Darlene M. Savage, 70, alleging that she has been maintaining an unpermitted salvage or junkyard on her South Touchet Road property for over a year.

The misdemeanor charge, filed in district court on June 12, followed a report signed by the Columbia County Planning Department Director Kim Lyonnais earlier that week stating that this particular property has been a problem since at least 2011.

The junk, vehicles and other items on the property, which includes land on both sides of South Touchet Road, often encroaches up into the public right-of-way, making it not only difficult for vehicles to travel that part of the road but also posing a "health and safety" issue, according to Lyonnais.

The Savage property is located nearly eight miles up the South Touchet Road and is near the entrance to the Rainwater Wildlife Area, owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla.

"It's on the South Touchet gateway to the private land out there," said Columbia County Deputy Prosecutor Dale Slack. "And the Umatilla tribe has been working so hard to take care of that land out there, we are taking this violation seriously. It's impinging on the roadway and is dangerous."

Under current county code, the charge of operating an automobile wrecking, dismantling, salvage or junkyard without obtaining a permit is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a $300 fine or both.

As explained in our Page 1 story, the county is working on creating stricter and more enforceable penalties for people who violate county building and zoning codes. The Savage case, county commissioners mentioned in their board meeting last week, has been "in the works" for many years.

"Numerous abandoned or run-down travel trailers are on the property as well as numerous items of junk (cast-iron stoves, bathtubs, parts of vehicles and tractors, broken furniture, scrap wood, just to name a few) and many pieces of scrap metal," Lyonnais stated.

The size of the collection on the property near the end of South Touchet Road has grown steadily since 2011, according to the court document.

"Our department has attempted since 2011 to address this issue with Ms. Savage," Lyonnais wrote. "Numerous letters were sent to her. At times it appears that the trailers, junk and scrap were beginning to disappear from the property, however within a few days or weeks, numerous new trailers, junk and scrap items appear."

Savage appeared in Columbia County District Court on Wednesday and was assigned an attorney. She was ordered to return on July 7 for her arraignment and to enter a plea.