Talent residents are cheering because they say they finally get a breath of fresh air, air they say has been polluted for twelve yearsand they blame their neighbor Mountain View Paving.
“The thing fires up in the morning and it sounds like a 747 in your backyard and why its been permitted this long is unreasonable in many levels,” says Lynn Horn a Mountain View resident.
Thursday a Jackson County Hearing Judge denied an appeal filed by the owners of the plantsaying the asphalt company does not conform to land use regulations and that they’re in a flood zone.
But residents brought the plant to the county’s attention mostly concerned aboutair quality.
Talent City Councilwoman Darby Stricker also supports the county’s decision to move or shut down the plant.
We hope the county will now enforce the decision and its our expectation that the operator takes this time and finds a new location.
Stricker says the plant has a permit but that it never conformed to county rules.The owners of Mountain View did not return our calls for comment Thursday. But according to court documents, claimed the previous business had been operating that way since the 60’sso they should be grand-fathered in.
“There’s a reason you don’t allow heavy industry next to residents its polluting the area it’s causing breathing problems there’s terrible odors their right in the flood plain and that could cause damages during a flood,” says Stricker.
Resident say this is one neighbor they won’t miss calling Thursday’s decision a win for the city.
The owners do have the opportunity to appeal to a State Land use Board.
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