Residents Voice Opposition To Proposed Concrete Plant

The Mills County Planning and Zoning Commission tabled action last Tuesday on a proposed zoning district amendment being requested for the construction and operation of a concrete batch plant in western Mills County.

In January, Iowa/Nebraska Concrete Products, based in Nebraska, submitted an application for the zoning district amendment for a 30-acre parcel of land on 180th Street south of U.S. Highway 34. Owners of the company requested the land be rezoned from Corridor Overlay to Highway Oriented Commercial Zoning.

Iowa/Nebraska Concrete Products general manager Andy Goodwin said his company wants to build a permanent concrete production facility to meet a growing need in Mills County.

“A lot people may or may not be aware that a lot of concrete facilities, not just here but in Omaha and Council Bluffs, are doing preferred vendor sales only. If you’re not a preferred client of theirs, you go on the back of the line to wait for concrete,” Goodwin said. “We want to bring back the local, hometown concrete sales where you can go and pour a driveway on a weekend and expect to get that concrete for that purpose.

“We will have concrete to help with the infrastructure growth that is going to come. We will be available, we’ll be in the area and we’ll be able to assist with all the projects that will be coming down the pike.”

Goodwin added that he envisions the plant employing up to 40 employees in the next five years, including workers on site and aboard the company’s concrete transportation trucks.

Opposition to the plant was expressed by several residents from the area who spoke at the meeting. Many voiced concerns about the environmental impact the facility will have on the immediate area.

“Has there been an environmental impact study done?” Doug Kastrup asked. “I don’t want to breathe the dust in, That’s what I’m worried about.”

Lori Poff-Hamilton said she has a stepson who has asthma and a mother-in-law with emphysema living in her home.

“Besides all the dust and all that other stuff, you’re going to have truck traffic coming in and out all hours of the day,” she said. “There’s going to be dust from the road. It’s just going to be a constant traffic. I bought that place to be away from the constant traffic.”

Poff-Hamilton added that because of the cement truck traffic on 180th Street, she’ll no longer be able to ride her horse on the road.

Other residents also voiced concerns about the potential dust, noise, traffic, wear and tear the trucks will have on local roads and impact to their private water wells. Many who spoke in opposition of the zoning amendment suggested the company work with the county in finding a more suitable industrial site for a concrete plant.

Heather Jenneman said she doesn’t believe the plant meets the criteria in the county code of ordinances for either the Corridor Overlay District (the current zoning) or the Commerical Highway Oriented District.

“The Corridor Overlay District is intended to promote quality design, preserve the appearance of the natural and agricultural landscape and promote economic development,” she said. “I don’t consider a concrete plant as something that’s going to preserve the appearance of a the natural and agricultural landscape.

“For the Commercial Highway Oriented District, attract high quality industrial development. And again, I don’t consider a concrete plant high quality industry that we want to have down on the river bottoms.”

Goodwin said the company wants to be a “good neighbor” and would adhere to all state and county guidelines for the business.

“We’re going to be operating under all the permits and regulations provided by the Iowa DNR,” he said. “We’ll be permitted and inspected by the state of Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
“I suppose we can probably relate it to the concrete plant just down the road (in Glenwood). I don’t think there’s been any issues or problems with that as far as the dust goes.”

Doug Earnest, a representative of Iowa/Nebraska Concrete Products also in attendance at the meeting, said the company would use water trucks to reduce dust and would be open to working with neighbors if traffic flow becomes an issue. He noted that the plant would likely operate on a 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. schedule during the week and also conduct business on Saturdays.

One member of the audience did speak in favor of the plant. Pat Collins said the plant could be beneficial to the county.

“It could be a good thing if done the right way,” Collins said.

The parcel of the land being proposed for the site is situated on the east side of 180th Street and is on the edge of the Corridor Overlay District.

Mills County Attorney DeShawne Bird Sell has reviewed the application and language of the county’s zoning code ordinances. She issued a written letter to the commission regarding the matter, which was read aloud at last week’s meeting.

Bird Sell said the Corridor Overlay District “is improperly indicated on the county’s Beacon map” and she’s asked the county supervisors “to clarify the issue by affirmatively ending the Corridor Overlay District at 180th Street as specifically outlined in the written legal description.”

The adjacent lot, on the west side of 180th Street, is identified on the county’s Beacon map as being partially in the Corridor Overlay District and partially in the Highway Oriented Commercial District, which Bird Sell said is defined as “major road corridors in a rural area that attract high quality commercial and industrial development. This district should allow commercial uses and limited industrial uses.”

“It appears the adjacent lot is not in the Corridor Overlay District and the uses are permissive for this industry,” she said. “Therefore, it would appear that the application for rezoning would be permissible. As well, the proposed use (concrete batch plant) is permitted in the Highway Oriented Commercial District.”

Mills County Zoning Administrator Holly Jackson said the Corridor Overlay District sits on top of the Highway Commercial Zoning District.

“The overlay, you have to follow the rules of the commercial and then you have to follow the rules of the overlay,” she said. “What they’re asking for is that they want that one parcel to be Highway Oriented Commercial.”

Jackson noted at the meeting that the planning and zoning commission only has the capacity to make a recommendation on the zoning amendment to the elected Mills County Board of Supervisors, who would then make the final decision on the matter. The commission was given three options on how to proceed at last week’s meeting – to table, approve or decline.

“The first option is to table this item until the next meeting for further questions by the commission and the public to be answered,” Jackson said. “The second is to recommend amendment of the zoning district to the board of supervisors. Should that recommendation pass, the use requested either as a miscellaneous use for a construction batch plant or as an industrial use general industry would need to seek approval both for a conditional use permit from the zoning board of adjustment at a separate meeting. The third option is denial. If they do choose denial, there is a time lag between when they would be able to reapply.”

As the matter was being tabled, Nick Jameson, chair of the planning and zoning commission, said he and fellow board members understand the complexity of the issue and will take all gathered information and comments into consideration.

“We know it’s an (important) issue for everybody, we just want to be fair,” he said.

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Iowa/Nebraska Concrete Products Also Seeking Condtional Use Permit

After having their request for a zoning amendment tabled last week by the Mills County Planning and Zoning Commission, a Nebraska-based company is now seeking authorization from a different Mills County board to build and operate a concrete batch plant on 180th Street in western Mills County.

On Thursday, Iowa/Nebraska Concrete submitted an application for a conditional use permit to the Mills County Zoning Board of Adjustment. The matter will be taken up at the board’s Feb. 21 meeting.

“On Thursday, they submitted a zoning conditional use permit in the Corridor General Overlay District,” Mills County Zoning Administrator Holly Jackson said. “They’re asking the general use permit to be general industry to allow operation of a permanent concrete production business that will produce and sell concrete castings on the site.”

During the application process for the zoning amendment, owners of the company indicated they wanted to operate a concrete batch plant in the county. In Mills County, a concrete batch plant is defined as a temporary concrete mixing plant but owners of Iowa / Nebraska Concrete Products said they were unaware of the county’s definition and their intention is to build a permanent facility. 

In its application to the Board of Adjustment, submitted two days after the planning and zoning commission meeting, the company identified the business as “general industry,” which would make it permissible in the Corridor Overlay District if a conditional use permit is approved by the Board of Adjustment.

Jackson said along with its application, the company submitted a copy of a letter from Mills County Attorney DeShawne Bird Sell.

“Basically, she’s stating in there, that after receiving the (first) application, it appears the concrete plant is a permanent structure so she believes the definition should be under general industry,” Jackson said. “Under general industry, it would be permitted in the Corridor

“Overlay District with a conditional use permit.”

Jackson cited the following definition of “general industry” in Mills County:

“General industry is an enterprise engaged in the processing, manufacturing, compounding, assembly, packaging, treatment or fabrication of materials and products from prepared materials or from raw materials without noticeable noise, litter, vibration or air pollution effects across the property lines, but often including outdoor storage of materials or products.”

Unlike the Planning and Zoning Commission, which serves in an advisory capacity to the Mills County Board of Supervisors, the Board of Adjustment has the authority to approve or deny a conditional use permit on its own.

Tuesday’s Board of Adjustment meeting at the Mills County Annex in Glenwood begins at 6:30 p.m.