T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Property owner Todd Casady, left, and Stone Sanitation Site Manager Mike Keeran, right, address the Marshalltown Board of Adjustment about a plan to build a new headquarters for the company at 1414 Iowa Ave. W. during a hearing Tuesday night. The board voted 4-0 to approve their special use permit application.

Two weeks after a Planning and Zoning Commission hearing on a proposal to build a headquarters for Stone Sanitation at 1414 Iowa Ave. W. drew around 30 attendees, Marshalltown’s Board of Adjustment voted 4-0 to grant a special use permit to property owner Todd Casady on Tuesday night.

The Board of Adjustment hearing saw a smaller crowd than its predecessor, with between 15 and 20 people in the audience, and the commenters during the public hearing — many of whom had previously attended the P&Z meeting — mostly echoed similar sentiments about why they were opposed to the project, which would involve a 20-year lease between Casady and Stone, a company currently headquartered near Conrad along Highway 14.

Jim Bell, who owns a neighboring business and lives near the site, asked how much land would be used and said Stone Sanitation’s Mike Keeran had told him during a conversation after the last hearing that he “wouldn’t want it across from his house either.”

“The rest of you ought to consider that. If it was in your backyard, what would you like?” he asked.

Alyssa Johnson, who also resides closeby, wondered about flies becoming a problem and suggested using the space for youth activities instead, and Shannon Robinson reiterated her comments about the garbage company’s headquarters being the only thing she can see from her window while adding a concern about potential water contamination, noting that residents in her neighborhood take pride in their properties.

“We play outside with our kids all summer long, so I think one of my biggest worries is the smell. Nobody wants to be outside trying to play basketball or go on walks in the neighborhood. We have a really good neighborhood where we can go on walks and it’s a high traffic area, so I just really am concerned that the kids aren’t gonna want to be outside,” she said.

Mark Stevens urged the board to reject the proposal unless more concrete information on air quality could be provided, and Kelly Miller said she didn’t want her kids to have to see garbage all the time.

“I know we all need a trash service, I get it, but I think that maybe (they should be) closer to the landfill in a different direction, not by our homes to decrease the value of our properties,” Miller said. “I just think there could be a better place for it.”

Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall was the lone public commenter to speak in favor of the project, describing it as a catalyst for more investment in the southwest corner of town. Hall said Casady and Keeran were willing to enact extra safeguards like additional fencing and screening and asked the board to approve the plan.

The public hearing was closed after about 10 minutes, and Casady and Keeran came forward to provide more information. Casady quickly addressed Bell’s question and said only about two of the four acres on the lot would be utilized, and he subsequently offered a broader response to some of the concerns shared.

“We own, as a family, lots of real estate along Iowa Avenue. We take pride in our property. We maintain our property. I would not be pursuing this if I thought there was any jeopardy whatsoever to any of the surrounding neighbors or property values or any negative effects on anybody in the city of Marshalltown,” Casady said. “I think this is a great thing for Iowa Avenue. Iowa Avenue needs improvement between the city limits and specifically Sixth Street, and I think this is a great start.”

Keeran thanked those who weighed in and said their comments would be factored into Stone’s plans going forward. He noted that the company simply hauls garbage and does not store or transfer it, and he did directly respond to Bell, arguing that his words had been taken out of context and he simply meant that if he didn’t know the business the way he did, he might be weary of a garbage company coming into his neighborhood.

“Everybody’s got the idea that a garbage company is smelly, it’s nasty (and) trash is blowing all over the place, and that’s not the case,” Keeran said. “That’s evident if you go up Highway 14. There isn’t trash all the way up Highway 14, yet most of the trucks that service this area drive up Highway 14 several times a day because that’s where all of us are located right now. So I get it, unfortunately it’s just not how it works.”

He added that the company wants to relocate to Marshalltown because most of its business and employees are here, and they no longer saw the point in commuting to Grundy County on a daily basis. On the topic of water runoff, he said Stone is under “strict scrutiny” and faces both annual audits and surprise inspections, and he did not believe smell would be an issue, inviting anyone with concerns to visit their facility near Conrad.

Board member Tammie Engle asked Keeran if the company had ever run into problems with the owners of That Place Steakhouse, a popular restaurant located across the highway from Stone’s current headquarters. Keeran has only been in his current position as site manager for about a year and a half, but he said longtime former company owner Dave Stone and his neighbors to the west, who are in the agrichemical business, have never mentioned complaints. According to Keeran, a tenant even lives above them and has not had any problems.

City Planner Hector Hernandez read two written comments, both opposed to the project, including one from Cynthia Britson, who claimed she would like a personal phone call from everyone who voted in favor of the plan to “explain this stupidity to me.”

Hernandez then provided a basic overview of the details of the project, why it would require a special use permit and if city staff had detected any major concerns, which they had not. Board of Adjustment Vice President Kelli Thurston asked about what the fencing situation would look like and what could be done to protect property values.

After about 20 more minutes of conversation regarding where the garbage trucks would be parked (in a gravel lot), how many there would be in all (18, according to Keeran), the potential for unpleasant smells and an explanation on stormwater requirements, traffic concerns and water contamination from City Engineer and Public Works Director Heather Thomas, Thurston made a motion to approve the application with the stipulation of “substantially more fencing” along three of its four borders, especially along the entire north side of the property, and more greenery being planted. It carried by a 4-0 vote — despite board member Raquel Sweet calling it a “hard one” — with Board President David Schulze absent.

After the meeting, Casady told the T-R he did not have a definitive timeline for construction to begin, but he was thankful that the project had cleared its final regulatory hurdle and would now have the green light to move forward.

Earlier in the night, the board unanimously voted to approve a special use permit for Dustin Tapp at 102 N. 9th Ave. for Central Iowa Towing and Recovery. The company is based in Ames, but Tapp said having a Marshalltown location would improve response times and road clearances here.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.