St Paul: Opponents rally against trash truck refueling station near West Seventh
With chants of 'Homes Not Trucks!,' some 30 opponents of a planned trash truck refueling station hoisted protest signs near the former Schmidt Brewery along West Seventh Street on a frigid weekday evening.
Their goal was to call attention to a tussle with the city over the fate 540 Randolph Ave., a former tow lot poised to be converted into a capital city headquarters of sorts for FCC Environmental, St. Paul's newly-contracted citywide trash hauler. The issue is set to go before the St. Paul Planning Commission's zoning committee on Thursday.
Texas-based FCC Environmental, which began servicing St. Paul's multi-family dwellings in November, has already begun to station some trash trucks there in advance of assuming most of the routes for the city's single-family homes and two-unit, three-unit and four-unit buildings in April. The lot, which sits two blocks off West Seventh Street toward the Mississippi River, could soon host a fleet of 30 trash trucks, a handful of service vehicles, fleet dispatch and maintenance operations and a compressed natural gas refueling station.
FCC Environmental recently asked the city for a 'statement of clarification' offering assurance that a solid waste truck dispatch center and maintenance facility is similar to a public works yard, which is allowed under the lot's existing 'light industrial' zoning classification. The city zoning administrator issued the statement in January, effectively greenlighting the company to move forward.
The West Seventh/Fort Road Federation responded with a formal appeal seeking a public hearing and zoning study. The zoning committee will review the appeal at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
West Seventh/Fort Road Federation Board Chair Meg Duhr said Thursday that St. Paul City Council Member Rebecca Noecker had urged city planners to consider finding an alternate site for the trash truck facility, but leaders of city Planning and Economic Development had recently shown no enthusiasm for the idea.
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