Concrete readiness plant plans move forward

MT. PLEASANT — Plans for a concrete plant finally made headway as Mt. Pleasant City Council approved a zone change and site plans at their final meeting of the year.

For months, Chad Ebling met with the Henry County Board of Supervisors in hopes of obtaining a rezoning of eight acres of land from A1 Agricultural to I1 Industrial to construct a concrete readiness plant outside of Mt. Pleasant west of Hickory Avenue.

However, his plans were quashed in August when the Henry County Board of Supervisors voted 2-1 against rezoning amid complaints from homeowners in the area.

Just four months after this set back, considerable progress was made in the direction of bringing a new concrete readiness plant to the area through the City of Mt. Pleasant.

Mt. Pleasant City Council approved a site plan for a new concrete plant located in lot #1 of the new H. Eugene Smith Industrial Subdivision with the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission at the Dec. 27 meeting.

Earlier in the meeting, with a unanimous vote, Mt. Pleasant City Council approved the third reading and adoption of a zone change for a vacant land at the 2000-2200 block of West Washington Street just east of Hickory Avenue.

“We’re changing it from a M1 to a M2 zoning district,” Building and Zoning Administrator Jack Swarm explained.

According to Swarm, M1 zoning is designed to transition from heavy industrial into more residential areas.

“That area that I am talking about is all heavy industrial,” Swarm said. “The property we’re talking about is surrounded by heavy industrial. So, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have this transitory M1 district where we’re not transitioning to anything. So, this zone change would essential allow industrial to have outside storage or outside industrial processes.”

Back in March the city council approved rezoning land from M1 to M2 just east of this location from this parcel where Fratco and Access Energy Cooperative are located so zoning ordinances.

More information on this zoning ordinance change is available in the article “Zoning ordinance changes proposed.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com