Heaps of scrap metal and the beginnings of a fence just south of Winfield have tipped off neighbors and local government officials who are concerned about a Wichita company’s plan to open a recycling center along the U.S. 77 corridor.
A nuisance hearing with the Cowley County commission is set for Feb. 3 so commissioners can discuss the issue with the property owner and the company preparing to open for business, county administrator Leroy Alsup said. The parties involved were to be notified by letter this week.
The building and lot at 3705 Main previously have housed businesses that include an auto body repair shop and a sales lot for sports motorbikes.
The property is just outside the Winfield City limits across the highway from the The Ridge restaurant, Quail Ridge Golf Course and the dozens of homes with manicured lawns that surround the course.
While that leaves the county with the task of investigating plans for the recycling center, it hasn’t kept concerned passers-by from calling city hall with questions. City manager Warren Porter acknowledges the city’s considerable interest in what goes on in a high-traffic, high visibility area that serves as the south entry point into town.
"I think obviously you can say that it (recycling center, salvage yard) wouldn’t be your first choice for a business at the entryway to your city," he said. "But people assume it’s in the city and it is not. Right now were just looking into what the regulations are out there."
Porter said the city had contacted the Kansas Department of Transportation about any possible state regulations that might effect salvage businesses along a state highway corridor.
Elected officials and administrators for the the city of Arkansas City, Winfield, Cowley County and Strother Field have been focusing the last several years on a plan for the 77 corridor from Winfield to the Oklahoma line.
Support for land-use planning along the corridor appears to have considerable support but so far the corridor planning process has not moved along to the point where it would address concern over American Can’s plans, Porter said.
Kris Frahm, the property’s owner, said she agreed to a year-to-year lease with American Can and Scrap Inc. of Wichita. The company plans to open a recycling center.
Frahm is not sure why the opening of the business would be an issue that requires so much scrutiny.
"They’re putting up a 10-foot high fence around it," she said. "That should cover it up."
She referred other questions to American Can and Scrap.
CLEANING UP THE COUNTY
Jay Marks has heard all of the concerns about recycling centers before. Will it be dirty and filthy? Can it be kept tidy?
But Marks ? part-owner of American Can and Scrap ? said the point of his business actually is to make money while helping a community get green and have a place to recycle. Initially the business will take aluminum and other metals ? including aging farm equipment ? and hopes to eventually expand to take plastic and glass.
"It’s definitely not going to be a place where we have a bunch of junk cars sitting around," Marks said.
The current state of the lot ? with its piles of scrap metal and incomplete perimeter fencing ? is "about as bad as it’s over going to get," Marks said. Materials at the Winfield site right now are excess metal from the Wichita location that the company is storing until the price of metal increases.
"We plan on keeping things tidy," Marks said. "We’re striving for cleanliness, we’re a recycle center not a scrap yard."
The center is American Can’s second location and will employ five or six people. It would be overseen by a manager from Wichita.
An or eight- or nine-foot high fence made of corrugated metal will surround the facility, Marks said. He describes the Winfield location as a drop-off and collection site, meaning the materials will be processed elsewhere and not store locally long-term.
Once the weather warms, activity at the site should increase considerably. There has been no communication with city or county leaders, Marks said, but he did not expect there to be considerable issues.
"We want to work with everyone and get their input," he said. "We want to get an idea of what services the city needs and cater to that demand. We want to help people as they clean up and make this as green a community as possible."
Marks said the company had considered a name like Winfield Metal but abandoned that idea because of Winfield Iron and Metal has a similar moniker. The company will probably go with some simpler like, The Recycling Center, he said.
NOT TOO LATE TO REGULATE
County administrator Leroy Alsup agrees with those that question whether a scrap metal collection site is a good business to open along the 77 corridor. He points out that considerable time already has gone into trying to plan the future of the corridor in a way that is most advantageous to the cities, county and its residents.
County commissioners have received some phone calls about the heaps of scrap metal at the site and Alsup thinks its time to address the recycling center’s plan because "there’s nothing you can do once it’s established." Officials said the facility would need state and local approval to operate.
There is talk of petitions circulating to protest the recycling center but no one involved with the efforts would go on the record for this report.
While there are no zoning regulations in the county, there are minimum property standards and rules for salvage yards and scrap resellers. In recent years the county has developed some guidelines and toughened its pursuit of junk properties.
Alsup said the problem he sees with American Can and Scrap’s plans is that the building is a highly visible area, near some homes. Scrap metal facilities, he said, are usually located closer to industrial zones of town because it is difficult to make them aesthetically pleasing.
"I think those type of businesses always present a challenge as far as maintaining a neat or tidy appearance," Alsup said.
The city of Winfield isn’t without an ace to play if the issue turns contentious. Winfield could annex the property the business occupies and bring that property into the city. If that happened, the property would enter the city under the most strict of the city’s zoning designations ? single family residential.
American Can and Scrap would have to petition the city for a special-use permit to continue to pursue its plans. Porter would not comment as to whether annexation was a feasible option.
"That would be up to elected officials, to our city commissioners," he said.
Marks said he doesn’t want the issue to become divisive.
"Let’s keep things positive, this can be a good thing," he said.
