Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 13, 1990 TAG: 9007130397
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
They were quick to recite the landfill proposal's score under Bedford County's unique zoning system: just 76 points out of a possible 200.
Proposals that earn more than 100 points in Bedford's Land Use Guidance System are considered in close compliance with the county's comprehensive plan. Proposals that have the neighbors' blessings are even more likely to be approved.
Shredded Products Corp., the Montvale car-shredding company that wants to build a landfill just south of the city of Bedford on Virginia 745, has neither.
More than 100 residents met Thursday to organize their opposition to approval of the zoning request, which goes to a public hearing July 30.
They set up committees to phone their neighbors, to write news releases and to lobby their seven county supervisors - who will ultimately approve or deny the proposal.
Since the LUGS ordinance took effect last year, six other proposals have scored less than 100 points. Five of those projects had the support of the neighbors. And those five were approved.
The sixth scored less than 100, was opposed by the neighbors and was rejected.
"Right now, LUGS works for us," said Russell Stevens, a resident near the proposed landfill. "The buck stops with those seven guys."
"If this thing comes in here, we might as well just all start selling our land to hazardous waste dumps and all that," he said, "because that's all it'll sell for."
The landfill, where the non-metal parts of cars left behind during the auto-shredding process would be disposed of, scored poorly in part because of its location on a gravel road and its lack of public water and sewers.
But the landfill's poor score may be because of the zoning ordinance itself, a county planning official said Thursday.
"LUGS is not set up to address landfills," said Johnny Dooley. "Applying the scoring is not a very good way of deciding whether the landfill would be good or bad for the county."
For example, Dooley said, a proposed dump in more densely populated, more developed areas would get a higher score.
Shredded Products officials have told the supervisors that the company is suffering economically and needs the landfill.
Since a monthlong fire in a stockpile of the non-metal car parts last year, the company has been required to transport the so-called "fluff" to private landfills near Richmond. The cost of transporting and dumping the bales of compressed fluff across the state is simply too high to continue, company officials have warned.
But residents near the proposed site cited last fall's fire at the Montvale company as one of numerous reasons they don't want the fluff stored near them. A repeat fire and possible runoff from the site frightened them, some residents said.
Others said eight trucks carrying fluff along their hazardous gravel road every day would lead to traffic accidents and damaged roads.
"We're not going to let them come over here and ruin this beautiful place in Bedford County," Bob Johnson said.
Another man said the group should fight to keep the company out of an area larger than just the immediate neighborhood.
"We don't want to dump it back into Montvale's lap," he said. "It don't seem like a bad idea to run Shredded Products right out of the county."
by CNB