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A planned salvage yard at a long-vacant former industrial site has stirred up opposition from neighbors and businesses concerned about traffic and blight.
Mosier Industrial Services wants to operate an indoor salvage yard at the former Cooper Energy Services, 1401 Sheridan Ave., and another tenant might lease space there, according to the project manager.
Springfield city commissioners will likely vote July 9 on a rezoning case that could open the door for the old factory to be used as a salvage yard.
A public hearing was held last week on the application from Crestline-based Mosier to rezone the property from light manufacturing to heavy manufacturing. Mosier also owns the Crowell-Collier Building downtown.
If the Sheridan Avenue rezoning is approved, the company would need to apply for additional permits and take other steps before opening a salvage yard.
Several residents and business owners spoke against the proposed salvage yard at the city commission hearing last week that lasted for more than 30 minutes.
Russell Watts, project manager for Mosier, said the company wants to operate another business in Springfield. It currently owns the Crowell-Collier Building, which Watts said is a “drain monetarily.” The massive downtown Crowell-Collier currently is listed on Real Estate II’s web site for $5 million.
“(The salvage yard) is a nice way for us to make some extra income to help supplement the money we need until we get (the Crowell-Collier Building) where we want it to be,” Watts said.
The salvage yard would focus solely on automobiles because other types of metals are typically targeted for theft. The goal is to purchase scrap cars, remove parts with value, then compact the cars and ship them to Columbus or Dayton.
“It’s really just a holding place,” Watts said.
The facility would crush cars indoors with a front-end loader, he said.
“We want to eliminate as much noise as possible,” Watts said.
Mosier would use the west side of the property, closer to Harrison and East streets. The company might lease the east side of the property, he said, and Mosier has “absolutely no intention” of using all 16.5 acres at its Sheridan Avenue location.
Nearby business owners, including Ed Leventhal of Valco Industries, Fred Maine of Maine’s Towing and Randy Kapp of Kapp Construction, all spoke out against the plans.
Leventhal said he’s “greatly concerned” about how a salvage yard would affect his businesses in the area. Leventhal owns Valco Industries, 625 Burt St., and A&E Powder Coating, 1511 Sheridan Ave.
He believes the salvage yard could affect his employees, as well as residents of the neighborhood. Traffic in the area could be increased with trucks coming in and out of the salvage yard using neighborhood roads like Burt Street, East Street and South Belmont.
“The wear and tear on Sheridan and those roads is going to be extensive,” Leventhal said. “We would urge you to vote no and turn this down.”
Maine, who owns both Maine’s Towing and Maine’s Collision and Body Shop, 1717 E. Pleasant St., said he doesn’t see the need for another scrap yard in town buying cars. He cited the recent closing of PSC Metals on Sherman Avenue as an example of the difficulty of the business in Springfield.
Another concern of his is that he said the building is an eyesore. It’s had high weeds and graffiti for years, he said.
“I don’t see that changing at all,” Maine said.
Other residents were concerned about possible environmental hazards that could arise.
Watts said he understands that the building is an eyesore, which the company bought from former owner Harry Denune as part of the Crowell-Collier Building sale.
“We haven’t done anything to (the Cooper site) but empty it,” Watts said. “I can tell you 572 truckloads of merchandise have been taken out of that building.”
In regards to the environmental hazards, Watts said the business will follow all state and federal regulations under Homeland Security.
“We already own a salvage license (with the state),” Watts said. “We just want an opportunity to use it here.”
Bryan Heck, the city’s planning and zoning administrator, has recommended approving the rezoning, but he said that doesn’t mean a salvage yard would be approved.
The Springfield City Planning Board unanimously voted down Mosier’s application on May 13. To overturn the board’s recommendation, the rezoning must be approved by a super-majority vote of at least four of five city commissioners.
If approved by city commissioners, Mosier still must seek a conditional use permit and a variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals because the salvage yard would be located within 1,000 feet of a residential area. If that’s approved, the company also must receive a license from the Springfield salvage yard review board.
Watts apologized to the commission for not attending the city planning board meeting.
“Quite frankly, I didn’t see any obstacle happening,” Watts said.
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