The Lee County Board of Commissioners heard a request Monday night from a Raleigh waste company to place a construction and demolition landfill on a 116 acre plot at the intersection of Colon and Amos Bridges roads.Bob Joyce, a former economic developer with the Sanford Area Growth Alliance, addressed the commissioners on behalf of Liberty Waste of Raleigh. Liberty Waste operates 11 similar facilities across North Carolina.Joyce said materials accepted at the site would include construction debris, waste lumber, brick, sheetroc...
The Lee County Board of Commissioners heard a request Monday night from a Raleigh waste company to place a construction and demolition landfill on a 116 acre plot at the intersection of Colon and Amos Bridges roads.
Bob Joyce, a former economic developer with the Sanford Area Growth Alliance, addressed the commissioners on behalf of Liberty Waste of Raleigh. Liberty Waste operates 11 similar facilities across North Carolina.
Joyce said materials accepted at the site would include construction debris, waste lumber, brick, sheetrock, concrete and other similar items, and that 50 percent of the facility will be dedicated to recycling. He differentiated the facility from a municipal solid waste landfill, which accepts other types of garbage.
“The odors and gasses and toxicity associated with a (municipal solid waste) landfill are not associated with this project,” he said.
According to Joyce, the site in question is the original location of Sanford Brick from 1920 to 1945 and was used for mining and manufacturing of brick in those years. It has been out of use since the 1970s and contains more than 30 mining pits that have become ponds over the years.
“This is just a rough and ugly site,” he said. “We believe this is the highest and best use of this site, because other uses in the heavy industrial zoning include chemical or fertilizer plants, tire plants, animal slaughtering operations, junkyards, and hazardous waste sites. All these uses are allowed by right, which we think would not be consistent with the area.”
Joyce said the lifespan of the facility is estimated at between 15 and 18 years, and that Liberty Waste intends to cap the site when it’s filled and donate the land to either local government or a nonprofit for use as a park. He pointed to Green Hills Park in Wake County as an example of a former Liberty Waste site that’s been converted in that fashion.
Liberty’s proposal requires a franchise agreement from the county, which commissioners will have to approve after details are negotiated. County Attorney Whitney Parrish told the board Monday that in anticipation of Liberty’s presentation, county staff realized an update to the county’s solid waste ordinance would be required. One of the primary changes – which the Commissioners approved unanimously – was a requirement for companies seeking a solid waste franchise to fill out an application.
That application, when submitted, will be a matter of public record. A public hearing will be required, likely in October, before any franchise agreement can be approved by the county.
Republican Commissioners Chairman Kirk Smith suggested commissioners take a field trip in the near future to one of Liberty’s other facilities to get an up close look at their operations.