USA Metal Recycling officials have yet to submit an application for a permit to operate a metalscrap yard on Old Highway 59, but a meeting with Benton County planning staff has been set for Friday.
The scrapyard at 13670 Old Highway 59 was open to the public from Oct. 29-31. It closed tothe public as of Nov. 1, said Tom a permit is approved.
Smith, chief operations officer of Meanwhile, other operations at USA Metal Recycling. the site continue. Neighbors said
Benton County planning staff that trucks continue to come and sent a letter requesting that the go there.
scrapyard cease operations until “There are items on the site that Iconsider to be scrap metal that will at some time be loaded on a truck and hauled to USA Metal Recycling in Lowell. This activity has been go-ing on at this site for years,” Smith said. “There will not be any scrap metal operations taking place until such time that a permit is issued from Benton County Planning as required.”
Chris Ryan, director of Planning and Environmental Services for the county, said a 2004 letter from Benton County planning staff shows the site could continue to operate under a grandfather clause. But because operating as a scrapyard wasn’t one of the uses included in the clause, USA Metal will need a permit to do so.
If an application for a large-scale development permit is submitted by Friday, the soonest the permit would come to a vote would be Dec. 5. That’s also when a public hearing would take place.
Recently, USA Metal at 2109 E. Kenwood St. in Siloam Springs stopped operations.
In a ruling USA Metal and the city of Siloam Springs agreed on, a circuit judge ordered the scrapyard on Kenwood Street to stop metal recycling. In exchange, all citations the city issued USA Metal will be dismissed.
News, Pages 1 on 11/07/2012