FILLMORE : Concrete Firm’s Expansion Limited

Vigorous citizen protest prompted the Fillmore City Council to place restrictions on the proposed expansion of a concrete pipe manufacturing company in the city’s industrial park.

The four-hour hearing this week was the second council session on the proposal by Hurst Concrete Products, and it followed two meetings of a group of citizens, council members and Hurst staff who tried to forge a compromise.

July 5, Hurst Concrete was granted a conditional permit by the Planning Commission to operate 24 hours a day and expand a storage yard. An appeal was filed by Bill Boren, whose residence is next to the facility, and the commission’s decision was criticized by other residents, who said that Hurst has consistently violated the conditions of a permit granted in 1986.

The council voted unanimously this week to limit plant operations to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., although cleaning operations and emptying of a kiln will extend the workday by two hours each weekday. No more than seven truck departures will be permitted at night. Saturday operations will be permitted only 15 times a year, and Hurst must notify city staff in advance.

Hurst also will be required to reduce noise, particularly from forklifts and from a vaporizing unit used for curing concrete, which emits “a consistent high-pitched whine and runs all night long,” according to plant manager Al Franzen.

Extensive landscaping will be required, as it was under the original permit.

To assure compliance, Hurst will be subject to inspection twice during 1991 and every two years after the company meets permit requirements.

“I know of no other project that has been subject to such rigorous conditions,” said Community Development Director Mary Ann Krause.

Many of the dozen-plus residents who attended Tuesday’s council meeting said that restrictions added to the permit did not reflect their views and would not actually remedy noise and dust problems, which they said harm the quality of life and property values.