The West Seventh/Fort Road Federation has filed a formal appeal to the city of St. Paul with the goal of blocking construction of a trash truck refueling station at 540 Randolph Ave.
The site, previously home to two tow lots, sits in an industrial corner about two blocks off of West Seventh Street. Under a new contract with the city, FCC Environmental plans to install a fleet of 30 trash trucks, a handful of service vehicles, fleet maintenance operations and a compressed natural gas refueling station in order to collect residential trash citywide come April.
The site is zoned for light industry and sits near lots zoned “traditional neighborhood,” which allows a mix of businesses and residences. City planning officials on Jan. 10 determined that FCC’s plans comply with existing zoning, but the neighborhood district council has called for further review by the city’s Planning Commission, including a formal zoning study and a public hearing before its zoning committee.
FCC Environmental had asked city zoning staff to clarify that the refueling station would be a compatible use within light industrial zoning, and the city this month issued a formal statement of clarification supporting the use. “They were saying this is similar to a public works yard,” said Meg Duhr, president of the West Seventh/Fort Road Federation, in an interview Wednesday. “We are saying the intent of light industrial is no external impacts whatsoever, and up to 80 trucks coming and going everyday, that’s quite obvious to us an external impact.”
Among their arguments to the contrary, the West Seventh/Fort Road Federation maintains that while the project may superficially resemble a maintenance yard on paper, FCC Environmental plans a “fleet-based logistical hub with far greater traffic and external impacts than typical light industrial uses.” They note the two tow lots drew no more than four to six trucks “operating intermittently,” while the company, which is based in Texas and Spain, plans to install 36 vehicles, with the potential to grow to 80 vehicles as they contract with surrounding municipalities.
The neighborhood district council also maintains that the project is inconsistent with the vision for a more pedestrian- and bike-friendly area with improved river access, as laid out in the city’s Mississippi River Corridor Plan, Great River Passage Plan, the St. Paul Pedestrian Plan, the St. Paul Bike Plan and other documents.
An FCC representative last month said that the new gas-fueling facility complies with existing light industrial zoning, and the company was not aware of any immediate plans for any other type of development at the location when it purchased the property. They plan to employ 60 people at the site.
The Planning Commission’s Zoning Committee will hold a public hearing around the appeal and make a recommendation to the full Planning Commission. We have not yet formally scheduled the public hearing, but are targeting Feb 13.
Consumer charges for residential trash collection increased by about $50 for the year as of Jan. 1, but depending upon cart size are generally set to drop a few dollars under the new contract with FCC come April.
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