Residents urge county to review potential asphalt‑plant permitted in Clemmons; county details permitting process

Residents from the Clemmons (Clemens) area raised concerns in public session about a proposed asphalt plant on Gun Club Road, telling commissioners that residential neighborhoods, child‑focused businesses and medical facilities are within a short distance of the site.

“Gone will be all the … little gardens in the backyards of the people in the neighborhood,” said Elizabeth Burns, who described hundreds of families near the site and urged the county to consider other parcels better suited for an asphalt plant. Burns asked the board whether local officials could offer incentives for the company to relocate to a less residential area.

Planning staff told the board the property is zoned GI (general industrial) in the Village of Clemmons jurisdiction and that an asphalt plant is an allowed use under the Clemmons UDO subject to local permit conditions and required local and state air‑quality approvals. “If they brought in an application for an asphalt plant and met all the requirements in the Clemmons UDO, we would have to issue that permit,” planning staff said, and added that state and federal environmental permits — including air permits administered by the Department of Environmental Quality — would also be required and subject to review and appeal processes.

County staff suggested residents who wish to contest technical air‑quality findings should direct comments and appeals to the permitting agency (DEQ) as provided in those processes. Commissioners acknowledged residents’ concerns and explained that land‑use authority and technical air‑permit decisions are handled under existing local and state rules.