Arkansas City Rejects Permit for Recycler

The Rogers, Arkansas Planning Commission rejected a conditional use permit by a company that was proposing to build a recycling and smelting operation within the city borders. The Commission turned down the submission Jan. 7. (Read earlier story)

The proposed scrap yard, to be located in Northwestern Arkansas, would handle industrial scrap metal as well as electronics equipment.

Despite the rejection, the company, called Cimco LLC, plans on resubmitting an application for a conditional permit to the Rogers City Council by the end of this month. However, the company has made some changes, which it feels will give it a better chance of being accepted.

The company is jointly owned by three entities – Tom Smith, president of Roll Off Services; J.B. Hunt, one of the largest trucking companies in the United States; and Tim Graham, a local developer.

According to Smith, the initial submission was rejected on two fronts: the first is concern about an aluminum smelter being located within 1,000 yards of a school. A second point is concern about the level of noise that would be created by locating a scrap yard in a central location. A third issue, Smith said, is the lack information that Cimco provided to the Planning Commission. The failure to provide adequate information, Smith feels, created more of a “not in my backyard” issue.

According to local press reports, Mark Myers, Rogers’ Planning Commissioner, said, "I don’t think we were presented with all of the facts before this evening. I have real problems with the noise, the smelter operations, all of the things over there that common sense tells me as a planner that this is not a place where we want children."

To address the concerns, Smith said that the company will resubmit its application with some changes, including relocating the proposed aluminum smelter away from the proposed site. Also, the company is offering additional screening to reduce the noise generated at the facility.

Despite the setback, Smith still feels that if the company receives the conditional permit from the Rogers City Council it could begin some of its operations within the next several months.