Gwinnett responds to judge's order in waste transfer station suit

By Patrick Fox

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gwinnett County listed its reasons Tuesday for a rezoning decision in February allowing a waste transfer station on Shackelford Road near I-85.

The rezoning, approved on a 3-2 vote of the county commission, is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta on behalf of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Mission, which sits just south of the proposed waste station. Lancaster Enterprises LLC, which filed for the rezoning, is proposing a $4-million indoor facility that would allow garbage trucks to release their loads for transfer onto semi-trailers.

The county's planning staff opposed the proposal, saying it was "not consistent" with the recommended land use for the area. The planning commission voted unanimously to deny it as well.

Tuesday's formal action by county commissioners was in response to an order from Gwinnett Superior Court Judge Dawson Jackson seeking an explanation for the county's decision.

Commissioner Shirley Lasseter enumerated the reasons behind the decision. They include: a lack of landfills in the county; the facility's proximity to I-85 in an area uniformly zoned for industrial purposes; endorsements from the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority; more than two dozen conditions attached to the operation of the facility to guard against its impact on neighbors; and a reduction of traffic on the county's surface streets.

The response to the judge's order was approved 3-2. As in the original rezoning, commissioners Lasseter, Kevin Kenerly and Charles Bannister voted in favor. Commissioners Bert Nasuti and Mike Beaudreau dissented.