YOUNGSTOWN — The attorney for a property owner cited for violating city code for using land on and along Wick Avenue as a junkyard said the location is actually a vehicle storage facility.

No violation of the city code occurred, said Tom Schubert, attorney for Marble Street LLC, which owns the property, and for Schultz Towing and Recovery LLC, which leases a number of the parcels and plans to buy them by July.

The vehicles were totaled in crashes, abandoned or seized by police as part of a criminal investigation, he said.

Schubert also said there is no definition of a junkyard in the city’s redevelopment code.

After hearing Tuesday from Schubert and those wanting the location shut down, the city’s board of zoning appeals took the advice of Law Director Jeff Limbian, one of its members, who asked that a decision be postponed until his department could render a legal opinion.

“While I don’t want to prolong this problem for the residents or anyone who’s interested in a resolution, I would move the board to continue this matter so that we can provide a legal opinion about the” code issues Schubert cited, Limbian said.

The board voted 7-0 to wait for that legal opinion and take the matter up again at its next meeting, May 16.

Robyn Crosby, a city zoning specialist, issued a citation March 8 against Marble Street LLC for property on Wick, Illinois and West Woodbine avenues.

“It is my conclusion, due to the number of complaints from neighbors, the number of deteriorating and inoperable vehicles on your property, that it is being used as a junkyard, but zoned mixed use community,” she wrote.

But Schubert said no violation exists.

“It’s not being operated as a junkyard,” he said. “That’s not the purpose of this facility. It’s a storage facility. Your zoning code doesn’t have a definition of junkyard, but this is a storage facility. It’s a permitted use.”

Several nearby residents said at Tuesday’s meeting that the property is a junkyard and an eyesore.

“Wick Avenue is a gateway to the city, and we don’t want this here,” said Kenneth Krantz, who owns properties near the site. “It detracts from the city. It’s a blight. We, as residents of the area, don’t want it here. We don’t want a junkyard in our backyard.”

Debra Weaver, who lives on Wick Avenue, said she can see the property, which has junk cars and other trash, from her house.

“We’ve been working to make improvements to the area,” she said. “It’s pretty bad when residents have to abide by the code and commercial businesses can skate by.”