Gwinnett officials advise ‘no’ vote on waste station

With more than 600 attending their Wednesday night meeting, Gwinnett County planning commissioners recommended denial for a developer who wants a new waste transfer station on Shackleford Road.

Lancaster Enterprises wants to rezone 9 acres near I-85 and Beaver Ruin Road from light industrial to a heavier industrial category, and their request includes an application for a special use permit for a waste transfer station.

Jeff West, from the county planning office, said his staff supported a denial. The county’s land use plan recommends commercial retail use for the property.

The final vote on the transfer station application is scheduled before the County Commission Dec. 16.

Speaking in favor of the request, attorney Lee Tucker, representing Lancaster, said Gwinnett County has no landfill.

“We all generate trash,” he said, “and most folks realize it has to go somewhere when it leaves the curb in front of your house.”

Tucker said the proposed station would collect the garbage into one central enclosed location, then transfer it to large trucks that would have easy access to the interstate.

But opposition was plentiful and vocal.

Cong Chinh Nguyen, representing the congregation of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church, which sits adjacent to the site, said the 3,000-member church needs a “safe, clean and healthy environment.”

The proposal would be an assault on the area, said Allan Anderson, vice president of Gwinnett Corporate Center that controls more than 3 million square feet of office and warehouse space along Shackleford Road.