New Plymouth variance request generates heated debate
Wednesday, December 20, 2006 10:50 AM PST
Jennifer Colton | Argus Observer
New Plymouth
A variance request by T & T Forest Products sparked a flood of personal allegations during a public hearing at the regular New Plymouth City Council meeting Monday night.
The small-town clash - between T & T owners Ted and Teresa Allen and New Plymouth residents Dale and Carol Williamson, who live in the neighborhood of the mill - flared when the Allens submitted a variance request to build above a 45-foot city height restriction for an enclosed cyclone and sawdust bin.
Ted Allen said the new sawbin will sit where the existing three-sided bin is now.
Dale and Carol Williamson said the new construction will be unsightly, loud and have extra lighting, in addition to putting sawdust higher in the air.
“They have dust, they have noise,” Dale Williamson said. “It's not going to solve the problems down there. The higher you put that sawdust in the air, the higher potential you have for fire. It's unreal, and it don't have to be that way.”
Although a final recommendation by the P&Z commission has not been made, both Carol Williamson, and New Plymouth City Councilman Erik Cline, Williamson's son-in-law, said that the request does not fall under the guidelines of a variance.
“The decision by planning and zoning could not have been made by city code,” Carol Williamson said. “Planning and zoning cannot issue a variance when it is a convenience, not a requirement. No doubt there would be more noise, more dust and sawdust in the air.”
Two other residents also spoke in opposition of the variance.
“Why would a person who has a sawdust problem at 20 feet think that putting it at 50 feet would cure it?” New Plymouth resident Dale Smith said. “They're doing it for economic value - for themselves. They don't care about the neighborhood. All they're caring about is the dollars. They have not done anything they said they were going to do. They don't live there, and we do.”
Much of the criticism appeared to catch the Allens off-guard.
“I thought we were here to request a variance to build a sawdust bin, not to defend ourselves,” Ted Allen said. “We do care about our neighbors. We have done everything the city has asked us to. Our problem is that no matter what we do, it's never enough. I don't feel I should have to apologize because I have a successful business. I don't feel I should have to apologize because we want to be in New Plymouth.”
The Allens still took the time to defend against many of the allegations, asserting the new system with the cyclone would be far more quiet and contained than the current system, lessening many of the complaints. Also, they said, the new equipment will not save the business any money. The Allens also said the new sawdust bin could be constructed without the variance, but it was the contained cyclone that makes the equipment higher than 45 feet.
“It does get a little frustrating every time we come here for a specific purpose, past history is drug up,” Teresa Allen said. “If there was a legal issue, Mr. Williamson would have jumped on it.”
New Plymouth Mayor Scott Moscrip said the council could not make any decisions until it received the recommendation from the New Plymouth Planning and Zoning Commission. Public hearings will continue both at the New Plymouth Planning and Zoning meeting Dec. 27 and the next City Council meeting on Jan. 2. In other business, the council adjusted the Idaho Highway 30 Enhancement Project outline, with an estimated cost to the city of $125,000. The price could be offset by grants and charging businesses a portion relevant to the improvements in front of their locations.
“We have one real shot to fix up downtown,” Moscrip said. “Let's not blow it.”
The council also accepted a bid for the new dog pound and five bids for city surplus, authorized Beau Ziemer to scrap the remaining surplus items and granted business licenses to Maximum Heating and Cooling and Silver Ridge Homes LLC. City Council member Ben Esplin owns both businesses. Esplin did not vote on either matter.
