Africatown residents press planning commission over Rogers Group subdivision; company promises dust controls

Jared White, an attorney for Rogers Group, told the Mobile Planning Commission the company bought the former Parker Towing property about a year ago and has continued an aggregate yard operation on the site. He said Rogers installed a conveyor with a built‑in dust suppression system and replaced loader alarms with white‑noise units to reduce noise and dust impacts, and that the firm will either remove a small parcel facing Chin Street from the subdivision application or show it as a separate lot at the commission’s next meeting.

“Rogers is the largest privately owned construction aggregate company in the United States,” White said, adding that the conveyor “minimizes the dust” and eliminates dump‑truck movements across the site. He said the company met with community members and aims to be “open” and “transparent.”

Residents from the Africatown area urged the panel to scrutinize the application more closely. Kermit McAlpine described frequent flooding that carries wildlife into backyards and said loud early‑morning train operations and dust from rock operations have reduced local quality of life. “Whenever it rains, the water builds up heavily causing flood throughout the community,” McAlpine said, also offering photos to staff.

Ramsey Sprague, president of the Mobile Environmental Justice Action Coalition, said his organization has engaged Africatown residents for years and urged staff to determine whether the Africatown overlay’s landscaping, buffer and crime‑prevention‑through‑environmental‑design requirements were applied during permitting. He also said the plat appears not to show Chin Street frontage and raised questions about the city’s stormwater easements and whether required easements or detention exist for the ditch that drains toward 3 Mile Creek.

“We have questions around if all of the requirements of the Africatown overlay were properly investigated by the planning department,” Sprague said, calling for “comprehensive code enforcement” and accountability from the applicant.

Robert Clompton, identifying himself as president of the NAACP, said flood easements, dust and noise are urgent quality‑of‑life issues and pledged the chapter’s assistance to nearby residents.

Commissioners did not take a final vote on the Rogers Group application at the hearing. The applicant had requested a holdover; commissioners later moved to hold the item over until the June 18 meeting to allow a revised plat and additional documentation to be filed. The commission’s record shows staff noted missing owner consent letters and the revised plat as outstanding items.