Jason Reinbold, who owns Industrious Group LLC, a metal fabricating company, intends to build warehouse and office space at the site of an old quarry in Imperial.
Reinbold petitioned the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission at the Aug. 22 meeting to rezone the site at the northwest corner of Hwy. 61-67 and East Seckman Road from planned business to planned industrial. The commission was also asked to approve the company’s development plan for the site, called Fern Bluffs.
The commission voted unanimously to recommend that the Jefferson County Council approve the company’s requests.
The commission advises the County Council on land-use issues in unincorporated areas, and the council, which has the sole authority over rezoning and the approval of development plans, will consider a resolution to approve the requests at a future meeting.
Dan Govero, owner of Govero Land Services in Imperial, which designed the development plan, represented Industrious Group LLC at the meeting.
According to planning and zoning documents, the plan includes three phases of development: phase A is a 12,000-square-foot building to be used as the metal fabrication warehouse. Phase B is for an 8,400-square-foot warehouse, and Phase C is an 8,000-square-foot building for office space.
County planner Josh Jump said the site has “severe topographical challenges” due to a steep bluff on the northern side of the property. Beyond the bluff is a mobile home community, and surrounding the property is a mixture of industrial and commercial developments.
“There are very limited uses for the land because it’s an old quarry,” Govero said. “The way they quarried it was not with dynamite. They dug shale out until the rocks fell. I wouldn’t have wanted to be that operator. It was quite a mess, but now it’s getting cleaned up.”
According to the development plan, the proposed warehouses would sit parallel to Hwy. 61-67 and East Seckman Road on a relatively flat portion of the property. An outdoor storage area would be sectioned off behind the warehouses and concealed from motorists on the highway.
Commissioner Steve Taylor said the safety measures taken by the developers were an appealing aspect of the petition.
According to the development plan, a fence will be installed on the northern side of the property, blocking residents in the mobile home park from getting too close to the steep bluffs.
“That alone makes this an attractive project to me, ensuring that nobody falls down that bluff,” he said.
Govero assured the council that the bluff face wouldn’t be developed, saying the area around the bluff would be cleared of large boulders and rocks that have fallen since the quarry ceased operations.
“The steep terrain going up to the mobile home park will never be developed because it’s just plain steep,” he said. “I think this is a good use for the quarry area, and we can make it a nice asset to the county.”
Reinbold is also the chief operating officer for another company, the Imperial Metal Co. based in Fenton. The company began in 1976 in a 1,500-square-foot building in Imperial and focused on fabricating architectural products. The company relocated to Fenton in 1988 and now has a 33,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, according to its website.