Oconee County Planning Commission Recommends Materials Recovery Facility To Board of Commissioners

The Oconee County Planning Commission, after a hearing lasting nearly 90 minutes, voted 9-2 Monday night to recommend to the Board of Commissioners that it approve a special use permit for construction of a materials recovery facility on agricultural land at 1441 Dials Mill Road.

Approximately 100 people turned out for the public hearing at the courthouse, with supporters outnumbering opponents.

Katie Garrett and brother Simon Garrett, representing the Garrett family, which is seeking the special use permit, argued that Harvest Recycling, a spinoff of the family’s Roll Off Systems waste hauling company, will provide a needed waste recovery facility in the county.

Opponents said that the extra traffic on Dials Mill Road will alter the rural nature of the road and that waste recovery is an inappropriate activity for the agricultural and residential area.

Commission members Maria Caudill and Bill Yarbrough were the two negative votes on the motion to recommend the project to the BOC, which is scheduled to take up the Garrett request on May 7.

For more on the story, go to Oconee County Observations.

See also:

Oconee County Planning Staff Does Not Recommend Approval Of Permit For Recycling Facility