March 3, 2017 at 6:30 p.m.
Location changed for new asphalt facility
Milestone Contractors has changed the location of its proposed asphalt production plant.
Tom Suding and Jay Smitley, representatives from Milestone Contractors, explained at Thursday’s Portland Plan Commission meeting that the company is changing the location for its proposed asphalt plant in Portland to comply with an earlier request from city officials.
In December, Portland Board of Zoning Appeals gave the original proposal a variance, with the stipulation that all traffic coming from the plant north of the quarry would come through the quarry and exit onto county road 125 South. But after talks with quarry administrators and federal regulators, it was determined that asphalt plant traffic wouldn’t be allowed through the quarry.
Now, in order to facilitate ease of access to county road 125 South, Milestone proposed a new plant location on the east side of county road 200 West, just south of the intersection with county road 125 South. The property is currently zoned as agricultural, and Milestone asked the Portland Plan Commission to rezone it as industrial.
Plan Commission member Kent McClung asked Suding and Smitley if the new asphalt plant would produce negative odors. According to Suding, new technology has significantly reduced the smells that can drift off during asphalt production. Smitley pointed out that there had been an asphalt plant at the quarry from the 1960s to the 1990s, and that the company’s Danville plant is located near a residential area and has received no complaints about the odor.
Plan commission members Don Gillespie, Bart Darby, Ronnie Reynolds, Lee Newman and McClung, absent Vicki Tague, Janet Powers and Jim Sanders, voted to approve the rezoning of the plot of land. Next, Milestone will have to receive approval from the Portland City Council at its March 20 meeting and get a variance from the Portland Board of Zoning Appeals on April 11 before it can begin work on the plant.
According to Smitley, if the approval process goes smoothly, the plant is expected to be up and running by June.
Tom Suding and Jay Smitley, representatives from Milestone Contractors, explained at Thursday’s Portland Plan Commission meeting that the company is changing the location for its proposed asphalt plant in Portland to comply with an earlier request from city officials.
In December, Portland Board of Zoning Appeals gave the original proposal a variance, with the stipulation that all traffic coming from the plant north of the quarry would come through the quarry and exit onto county road 125 South. But after talks with quarry administrators and federal regulators, it was determined that asphalt plant traffic wouldn’t be allowed through the quarry.
Now, in order to facilitate ease of access to county road 125 South, Milestone proposed a new plant location on the east side of county road 200 West, just south of the intersection with county road 125 South. The property is currently zoned as agricultural, and Milestone asked the Portland Plan Commission to rezone it as industrial.
Plan Commission member Kent McClung asked Suding and Smitley if the new asphalt plant would produce negative odors. According to Suding, new technology has significantly reduced the smells that can drift off during asphalt production. Smitley pointed out that there had been an asphalt plant at the quarry from the 1960s to the 1990s, and that the company’s Danville plant is located near a residential area and has received no complaints about the odor.
Plan commission members Don Gillespie, Bart Darby, Ronnie Reynolds, Lee Newman and McClung, absent Vicki Tague, Janet Powers and Jim Sanders, voted to approve the rezoning of the plot of land. Next, Milestone will have to receive approval from the Portland City Council at its March 20 meeting and get a variance from the Portland Board of Zoning Appeals on April 11 before it can begin work on the plant.
According to Smitley, if the approval process goes smoothly, the plant is expected to be up and running by June.
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