Winfield attempts to stop transfer station through overlay zoning
Trans-Rail Waste Services vows to forge ahead with current plans
WINFIELD | The Board of Mayor and Aldermen here on Tuesday took the first step towards enacting a zoning overlay plan intended to prevent a trash transfer station that is being planned for Poplar Lane on the south end of town.
It’s not clear that new zoning restrictions could be used to retroactively restrict a trash transfer station, but that may be a question ultimately destined for a judge, as the developer planning the transfer station pledged to forge ahead with his plans.
By a 4-0 vote at Tuesday afternoon’s meeting, the board approved the first of two readings of an ordinance that will amend the town’s existing zoning ordinance by establishing a “landfill industrial overlay district.” Overlay zoning is used by municipalities to place special restrictions on certain types of industries or activities. Specifically, Winfield’s ordinance would prohibit a transfer station or landfill within one mile of a school or one-half mile of a residence.
Alderman Doug Wilson, who seconded a motion by Alderman Harold Chambers to approve the ordinance, put it this way: “In layman’s terms, we’re adding more stringent requirements than the state has.”
It was revealed last week that Trans-Rail Waste Services, a newly-formed company tied to landfill developer Knox Horner, has applied with the TN Dept. of Environment & Conservation (TDEC) for a transfer station off Poplar Lane that would be used to move trash from railroad cars to trucks for final transport into the landfill he intends to build nearby.
Horner said last week that trash would be transported in sealed containers that would not be opened until they were inside the landfill. However, local residents have expressed concerns about the potential for foul odors, environmental hazards, and the proposed transfer station’s close proximity to Winfield Elementary School.
According to a conceptual drawing submitted by Horner’s company to TDEC, the transfer station would be built on a newly-constructed rail spur along the Norfolk-Southern Railroad, approximately one-third mile from Winfield School. As planned, the transfer station would be located on a 78-acre tract of property owned by Bearcat Properties Inc. Bearcat, a local company, owns most of the 700 acres being planned for the new landfill.
A standing-room-only crowd turned out at Winfield City Hall Tuesday for the board meeting. It was the second such crowd at recent government meetings, after a capacity crowd showed up at the Scott County Office Building for a County Commission meeting last month. Also, there was a large crowd at a public forum hosted by the Oneida Board of Mayor and Aldermen at Oneida High School last week.
At each of those three meetings, residents have spoken in unison about their opposition to the planned landfill at Bear Creek. Collectively, the meetings look similar to late 1989 and early 1990, when residents were filling public meetings to capacity to argue against the landfill that is now known as Volunteer Regional Landfill. Scott County Commission, the Town of Oneida and the Town of Winfield were united in their stance against the landfill — originally known as Roberta Sanitary Landfill — but the landfill, which now consists of 800 acres and is owned by Waste Connections LLC, moved forward after local governments were overruled by a Chancery Court judge in 1992.
Also present at Tuesday’s meeting was TDEC Solid Waste Permits Manager Nick Lytle, who took possession of two letters from the board — one a letter signed by Winfield Mayor Jerry Dotson urging TDEC to not approve the transfer station permit application, and another signed by an East Tennessee Development District representative indicating that the town’s zoning restrictions already prohibit a landfill on the Poplar Lane property.
There have been questions raised as to whether new zoning restrictions imposed by the Town of Winfield can be used to retroactively prohibit the transfer station. Although it has not yet been approved by TDEC, Trans-Rail Waste Services’ application for the transfer station was filed with the state on May 30. Winfield’s overlay zoning ordinance will take effect after a public hearing and a second reading of the ordinance, which will ostensibly occur at the town’s next meeting on July 8.
However, the new overlay restrictions being proposed by the town aren’t the only potential limiting factor. The letter presented to TDEC by the ETDD at Tuesday’s meeting revealed that the parcel of property on Poplar Lane is zoned residential, which could potentially require the property to be rezoned to clear the way for the transfer station. Zoning issues are routine government matters in virtually every municipality. A recent example was seen in Oneida, where Dollar General asked the town to rezone a parcel of residential property on Coopertown Road for a new retail store. That request was approved by the town on first consideration, but rejected on second consideration after an outcry from residents in the neighborhood.
Nevertheless, Horner — who was present at Tuesday’s meeting — has pledged to forge ahead with his plans for the transfer station.
“The actions today of the Winfield Council hasn’t changed our plans at all. Our attorneys will be reaching out to Ms. Peters to gather information and we will go from there,” said Horner, referencing Winfield city attorney Jade Peters.
“The only thing that for sure happened today is we withdraw our offer to pay the Town of Winfield a host fee equaling $250,000 to $350,000 per year,” Horner added.
“We believe our project will be successful in many ways and be a huge benefit to the community,” he said. “Businesses and residents will soon have an option. This is always good for the consumer.”
Both Scott County and the Town of Winfield have now opted into the “Jackson Law,” a 1989 state statute that provides county and municipal governments control over privately-owned landfills. However, Scott County had the Jackson Law in place in 1992 and the court ruled it did not provide the county a justifiable reason for denying the landfill permit. The county’s Jackson Law opt-in resolution subsequently expired in 2010 — just weeks before a permit was granted by TDEC for a 24-acre landfill on the property currently in question at Bear Creek.