Elyria approves construction waste recycling project at former Maverick Tube

On Monday, Elyria City Council cleared the way for a construction waste recycling company to move into the former Maverick Tube facility at 525 Mussey Ave. A pair of neighboring residents spoke up at the meeting with concerns, but Council unanimously approved several pieces of legislation to allow the company, 525 Mussey Avenue LLC, to open up a facility on the property that has stood vacant since Maverick's closure in the mid 2000s. The ordinances making it possible for the project to move forward included a rezoning of the three parcels making up the site from heavy industrial to special industrial, as well as two special use permits to operate a junkyard and store hazardous waste on site. At a Community Development Committee meeting in May, project architect Anissa Neider said that the only hazardous materials that will be stored on the site will be sawdust and tires, which are considered hazardous under state law because they are flammable. Some neighbors are still concerned about traffic, hazards and another junkyard in the 6th Ward, and two of them spoke up during a public hearing at Monday's meeting. "That place would be in my backyard, and every day that I go out my front door, I already see two junkyards," neighbor Sacha Holder said during the public hearing. "I like my backyard, and I would like to keep it and keep the wildlife. … I am just really concerned about having hazardous materials stored there, and then another junkyard in the 6th Ward. I mean, I think we already have plenty over there." Responding to Holder's fears at the meeting, Neider said the materials that could be considered "junk" will be stored indoors at the facility. "I understand your concern about the word junkyard," Neider said. "However, that was used as a term based on the materials that were coming in and out. Those materials would not be stored outside, so you would not see those materials." Neider also said that the company would be cleaning up the property to make it look better than its current overgrown condition. Another neighbor, Richard Bruce, said that he agreed that another junkyard and industrial property in the 6th Ward would be bad for the area. "I've been there 30 years, 30 years already, in the same neighborhood," Bruce said. "Do any of y'all in there, in that neighborhood? I mean, if you did, you know you shouldn't be doing it to us. Everybody else can want this and that in different areas of Elyria, yet you want to open this back up in my area. I don't think it's a good idea, but that's all I've got to say about it." City Planner Chris Schoenig added that the city as well as the Ohio EPA would be monitoring the property to make sure the company was following all regulations surrounding hazardous material handling and storage. Councilwoman Mary Siwierka, D-3rd Ward, inquired about planned traffic patterns, expressing concern about trucks driving through nearby neighborhoods. "I think we need to be sensitive and make sure that the owners, you (Neider) or whoever the agent is, works with the police department and Safety Service Director's office, because there's really no non-residential area (through which) to get to that location," Siwierka said. "They are going to have to go through multiple neighborhoods to get there." Neider said that truck traffic would be limited to business hours, and she would express Council's concerns about traffic to the company. Council President Vic Stewart, D-at Large, noted that during the previous meeting in May, the committee had talked about the main access road to the facility being aWest River Road, rather than West Avenue. At 525 Mussey Avenue, Neider said previously, the company will turn nontoxic fluid waste from construction sites into solid by mixing it with sawdust and other materials. This process, known as solidification, makes the waste easier and safer to transport, store and dispose of, and Neider said disposal will be done off-site. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.