property to a different classification would create the potential for |
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nonconforming uses. That was a serious issue for them, particularly with |
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respect to the value of the business operation, the ability to finance the |
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operation and the ability to continue to get credit. They had operated in |
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the City without any violations, and they had not gotten any complaints |
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that they were aware. In that regard, they were appreciative of the effort |
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that was done by the consultants to start to craft a method of dealing with |
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their operation. However, that just occurred last Friday (January 23), and |
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although he felt it was a good first step, it was done without any |
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consultation with the owners or discussion about what would work. He had |
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emailed a quick list of some of the issues that were raised by their plant |
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operations manager with respect to the Ordinance, and those were the |
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things they were concerned about. As it stood, they did not know under |
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the new Ordinance if they would be able if they wanted to expand their |
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operation. He questioned if that would cause an expansion of a |
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nonconformity. He wondered if they would have to do all the changes |
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proposed in the Ordinance, which were onerous to exclude or discourage |
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new development, and might prevent them from improving their |
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operations. He mentioned that they were always upgrading their facilities, |
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and that they had Public Hearings with the MDEQ regarding permits, so |
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they were very concerned about the impact of the rezoning. He stated |
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that it was a huge issue for them and their ongoing operation. He |
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believed that the intent was not to shut them down or drastically impact |
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the value of their operation, so he just wanted to ask that they defer a |
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decision about it, and allow them to meet with Staff and go through some |
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of the issues. If the City was going to adopt a new Ordinance, it should |
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deal with their ongoing operation and not unintentionally affect them |
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negatively. He said that they had no opportunity to review it, and that it |
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came up quite suddenly. They were surprised to see that there was a |
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rezoning proposed for their property. They knew that the City’s intent was |
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not to allow further expansion of new heavy industrial operations in the |
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City, and he felt that could be accommodated while their operations could |
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be accommodated and maintained. He did not think that the proposed |
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language would allow that. There were issues, particularly with respect to |
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application and changes. He wondered, for example, if they tried to |
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expand the building if they would have to pave the whole 20 acres. Those |
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types of things needed to be addressed, and he urged the Commission |
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not to approve it in its present form, and to give them an opportunity to |
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