City Planning Commission Approves Permit for Scrap Dealer

Planning officials in Louisville, KY, have recommended that a scrap-metal processing company be allowed to install new machinery at its operation in Louisvillle, Ky.

The Louisville Metro Planning Commission approved a conditional-use permit earlier this month, and endorsed a zoning change that Freedom Metals needs to install a shear baler. The company needs the machine to remain competitive with much larger scrap metal recyclers in the area, said Bruce Blue, president of Freedom Metals. The company does a significant amount of business with smaller peddler traffic. The purchase of a shear baler will give the company more flexibility to service its customer base.

Blue said the company is looking at a 1,000 ton shear baler. Freedom hopes to make a final decision on what shear baler to purchase by the end of this week.

If everything goes according to plan, the company will have the baler installed by this summer, with full operation by early fall, if not sooner.

Freedom Metals wants about five acres rezoned to industrial, from enterprise zone.

According to local press reports, representatives of neighboring properties and industries objected, saying the scrap operation was dirty, noisy and incompatible with their efforts to improve the area. The baler would be "a monstrous machine ... a big, loud machine," said John Carroll, a lawyer who represented a nearby company and its landlord at the hearing.

While the Planning Commission did approve the permit, there are a number of stipulations that Freedom Metals needs to take care of. These include the following: The shear baler needs to have a decibel level of less than 75, a height maximum of 25 feet, part of the structure has to be enclosed, and the company needs to landscape around the facility with evergreen trees.

Representing Freedom Metals, attorney Paul Whitty acknowledged that a scrap-metal operation was not a thing of beauty. "You can't put enough lipstick on a pig to make it pretty," he said.

The commission voted 6-3 to recommend the rezoning on the condition that the commission's land-use committee approve the enclosure.

The commission tied in three previous votes on the request — two to recommend denial and one to defer. Before the fourth vote, Adams urged approval, noting that Blue had agreed to measures designed to reduce Freedom Metal's impact on its surroundings.

The Louisville Metro Council has the final say on the proposed rezoning. Blue estimates that the Metro Council will vote on the project within the next 30 days.