Neighbors press council over drainage and traffic risks at heavy-haul truck facility hearing

Aaron Sorrell, city planning staff, presented a basic development plan for Coast to Coast Heavy Haul on 6.25 acres at 4742 West National Road, describing an 8,800-square-foot maintenance building, a 2,000-square-foot office and parking shown for up to 43 trucks or trailers.

Sorrell said the site is zoned planned industrial, no rezoning is required, and staff recommended approval of the basic development plan submitted June 29 with conditions that include preserving the rear tree line, eliminating a front-yard parking stall, prohibiting outdoor storage of inoperable vehicles, limiting transitory parking and banning third-party trailer leasing.

Neighbor Ian Manger, who owns property directly south of the site, said he supports many of staff's conditions but urged stricter, enforceable protections for stormwater and screening. "I ask that the stormwater plan be certified by a licensed professional engineer, showing no increase in runoff volume or peak flow," Manger said, adding that standing water remained in his yard after a July storm.

Julie Reese, a Bethel Township trustee speaking as a resident, urged the council to consider safety where semi trucks would mix with school buses and neighborhood traffic near the tight intersection of State Routes 202 and 40. "It will mix semi trucks among the residents and buses who are bringing their children to and from school," she said, calling the proposal "a disaster waiting to happen." Jeff Moore, a former trucking practitioner, recommended the city arrange a demonstration run with an oversize trailer through nearby routes before approving the project.

Council members pressed staff on details they said must be resolved at the detailed development plan stage: precise stormwater calculations, whether the parking surface should be impervious (asphalt or concrete), containment measures for stored transformers and whether screening should be a fence rather than a planted mound to avoid removing existing trees.

Sorrell said the applicant told staff it was willing to work with neighbors on screening and that the proposed detention pond "will solve that issue" regarding runoff, but he acknowledged detailed engineering is still outstanding and will be reviewed by the city engineer at the next stage.

Mayor Jeff Gore and council members emphasized this was a public hearing and first reading only; the council noted the work-session recommendation to take the item to a second reading and set the next hearing on September 14. No final vote was taken on BDP26-19 during the meeting.