THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 21, 1996 TAG: 9602200105
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
The county will have to allow heavier industry in Isle of Wight Industrial Park if it wants to land a new business there by this summer.
Richman Steel and Fabrication Co., Newport News, is interested in the park, on U.S. Route 10 between Smithfield and Chuckatuck, in order to expand its fabrication operations, says county Economic Development Director Lynn Harris.
But the county's only privately owned industrial park is zoned for light industry and needs a heavier industrial classification to meet Richman Steel's needs, says Smithfield attorney Bill Riddick. He says he filed an application last week to have a 1.7-acre site rezoned.
The rezoning request is scheduled to go before the county's Planning Commission on March 12 and then to the County Board in April, Harris said. Both boards will hold public hearings on the request.
Richman Steel has two operations at its existing Newport News location, 529 J. Clyde Morris Blvd.: a steel distribution center and a fabrication shop. The distribution center sells raw steel to local welding shops, farmers and industrial businesses, and the shop produces steel fabrications used to construct buildings.
Plans are to expand the distribution center on the Peninsula and move the fabrication shop into a 12,000-square-foot building in Isle of Wight County, company president Tim Richman says. He is ready to buy the property and begin constructing the $350,000 building.
Initially, the company would have 15 employees, most of whom would transfer from the Peninsula site, Richman said, and additional employees would be hired later in the year. He could not say how many more employees might be added.
He was drawn to Isle of Wight County because of its rural atmosphere, Richman said.
``We were landlocked in our current facility, and there's not much land left to be developed here on the Peninsula. And I like Isle of Wight County.'' by CNB