A vacant factory and warehouse at 605 E. Outer 21 between Arnold and Fenton may get a new lease on life as a shingles distribution site.
The Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 on Feb. 9 to recommend approval of a rezoning request for the 1.7-acre property, which is just south of Hwy. 141, from non-planned community commercial to planned commercial.
The Jefferson County Council, which has the sole authority to rezone land in unincorporated areas, will likely consider the request at a meeting in March.
Clayton Francois, whose Plaza 605 LLC company owns the property, said he is negotiating to sell it to Beacon Building Products, which would tear down part of the existing building on the property, leaving a 11,700-square-foot structure.
The development plan calls for 31 outdoor storage bays and 14 parking spaces, with the entrance to the site from Outer 21 and the exit onto Landmark Drive, which is along the northern edge of the site.
Josh Huempfner of Upland Real Estate Group of Minneapolis, who represented the proposed developer, South Texas Endeavors LLC of Sugarland, Texas, said shingles would be the main item stored at the wholesale facility.
“About 80 percent of what will be stored outside will be shingles,” he said, with the rest other roofing equipment.
He said generally, four to six trucks a day would pick up orders. He said the facility will not be open to the public.
A neighbor who lives just west of the site, Elizabeth Appelbaum, said she was worried the heavy trucks would damage drainage culverts on Landmark Drive streets, but Huempfner said the culverts are past where trucks would leave the property.
“Are these shingles all brand new and will they be stored in a neat, orderly fashion?” Appelbaum asked. “I don’t think they are a fire hazard outside, but I don’t know for sure if the sun can set shingles on fire.”
The shingles, Huempfner said, will be new product and will be stacked in an orderly fashion on pallets and covered.
“This will allow forklifts to go in and out,” he said.
Huempfner also said he’s not aware that the shingles would pose a fire hazard.
Appelbaum was the only person who spoke against the rezoning request.
Planning commissioners Tim Dugan and Chris Hastings were absent from the Feb. 9 meeting.