JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville City Council didn’t vote on the issue Tuesday night, but it heard from several people about a proposed waste transfer station in southern Duval County.
The proposed Waste Pro USA facility would be near the Greenland Chase neighborhood in Mandarin. Hundreds of people there are fighting a rezoning request by Waste Pro that would allow them to put a waste transfer station right behind the tree line of their neighborhood. The area is located within an industrial area near a city park.
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RELATED: Jacksonville homeowners pushing back on location of proposed waste transfer station
Members of the neighborhood took turns during the public hearing for a zoning change, laying out the reasons they object. Their concerns include health, air quality and noise pollution.
“The closer to residential homes a garbage transfer station is, the greater the noise pollution and the less effective any noise abatement measures, even if perfectly implemented, will be,” said Lawrence Laughlin who lives in Greenland Chase.
“Litter is also, unfortunately, a byproduct of a waste transfer facilities by the fact that it can be easily spread from the facility itself from the trucks and even from improper management from the public when carrying waste materials to the facility,” Karen Corco, a Greenland Chase resident, told Council.
Roughly 300 neighbors have created a Facebook group dedicated to addressing concerns -- and planning their opposition -- to the proposed location of the waste transfer station.
A representative for Waste Pro also spoke to the Council. He said a community meeting will take place at Southpoint Community Church on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
The Council president said the issue won’t come up for a vote until July.