Dallas City Council votes against proposed trash transfer station

DALLAS, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - There’s no shortage of dump trucks pulling in and out of Paulding Industrial Boulevard in Dallas.

Currently, there’s a recycling facility located at the end of that road. Brian Stover owns the 180-acre plot of land.

“We recycle wood products, we recycle concrete, we make gravel and stuff like that which is heavy industrial use already,” Stover said.

Stover is also a county commissioner and was now trying to obtain a special use permit from the city to build and operate a trash transfer station on the property.

But some homeowners living less than half a mile away have been causing a stink.

“I’m worried about home values going down in the neighborhood. I’m worried about the trucks. Just getting in and out of this neighborhood right now is pretty bad,” Homeowner Robert Gunning said.

“Having more trucks coming in and out can be dangerous for people who live in the neighborhood. People getting in and out who have to use this road,” Resident Andrew Crawford said.

The owner of the property proposed to build a 10,000-square-foot building on the land where household trash would be temporarily dumped and then hauled off.

The plan would also require that a load of trash not be on the floor of the transfer station for more than 24 hours.

“It’s not a dump, it’s a transfer station which would be dumping it inside of a building, pushing it off into transfer trailers, and hauling it to the nearest landfill which would be 30 miles away,” Stover said.

On Monday night a round of applause erupted as the Dallas City Council voted against providing Stover with a special use permit to proceed with the trash transfer station.

Wayne McCallie is one of several residents who spoke against the facility Monday night during public comment, concerned about the smell, traffic, and noise the facility would create.

“I’m glad the city council decided to turn it down,” McCallie said. “I think a lot of people in there were happy with it. I know some have hurt feelings about it, but that’s life.”

But others, like Jason Trammel who is a local garbage man, left the meeting disappointed.

“The City of Dallas is actually spending more money taking it further away, spending more cash, more time, more energy and all that other stuff to get rid of the trash. So having it down here would actually supply the city with more money in my opinion,” Trammel said.

Atlanta News First spoke with developer Brian Stover briefly after Monday’s meeting. He said he was disappointed in the outcome.

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