Following lengthy questioning and discussion, members of the Romulus City Council unanimously agreed to grant a special land use permit to Mid Michigan Crushing and Recycling LLC at a recent virtual meeting.
The company crushes and recycles concrete and asphalt which is then reused in the construction of bridges and roads and has been in business for about 30 years, according to Gayle McGregor, who represented company principal Vaughn Smith at the meeting. Approval of the special land use on the property at 28175 Ecorse Road was recommended by the members of the city planning commission. The site is in a heavy industrial district and is an approved use of the land.
McGregor explained that the concrete and asphalt would be hauled to the site in large trucks, crushed and then removed by truck. She said nothing would be stored on site and that the only equipment at the site would be the large crushing machine, a conveyor belt, a truck scale and a small mobile office.
She said there would be no permanent structures on the site and that the company would employ about 10 or 12 people. The planning commission members had recommended a 12-foot berm including evergreens on three sides of the operation to mitigate noise and dust and the company agreed to install that feature.Operation would be limited to daylight hours but would usually be 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. In response to a question from Councilwoman Virginia Williams, Smith explained that since there would be no lights, other than the small light on the mobile office at the site, operations would cease when it was dark.
The facility will also house a water truck used to rinse dust off truck tires and trucks in an effort to reduce the amount of dust tracked back onto the road from the facility.
Smith said that this was a family business and that he plans to remain in Romulus at this site permanently and intends to buy the site in question which he is now leasing.
“There is a high demand for recycling for use in roads and streets,” he said. “We have been in business for 30 years and we have always been a good neighbor.”
