Georgetown Planning Commission says 'No' to rezoning steel mill property
South Strand News reported that the City of Georgetown Planning Commission denied a request April 25 to rezone 20 parcels east of South Fraser Street and encompassing the site of the ArcelorMittal steel mill from heavy industrial into a multi-use redevelopment district.
The commission also denied a text amendment essentially defining the district and setting it into law to create a redevelopment district to its zoning ordinances that would allow the multiuse option.
With virtually no discussion, the commissioners voted 4-3 to deny the rezoning, with Chairman Winfred Pierterse, Vice chairman Chris Moore and Joan Schmid supporting the proposal. Gerald Williams introduced the motion to deny the rezoning. He was joined by Paul Smith, Bernard Jones and Brittany Johnson. The vote was the same to deny the text amendment.
The recommendations now go to the City Council, which is expected to consider the matters at its May 18 meeting. During an April 20 City Council meeting, Georgetown Mayor Jack Scoville announced that ArcelorMittal had signed a letter of intent for the purchase of the mill with Liberty Steel, a subsidiary of Liberty House Group in the United Kingdom.
Although Scoville and nearly all of the City Council members attended the public hearing which was held in the Georgetown High School auditorium, none of them spoke. Scoville said before the start of the hearing that he had met with representatives of Liberty Steel and they addressed some of his concerns.
More than a dozen people spoke to the rezoning question, and two-thirds of them were in opposition to the city’s plan for the property. Among those opposing the rezoning were representatives of ArcelorMittal, Liberty Steel and representatives of the steelworkers union and those with ties to the steel industry.
Mr Gordon Spelich on behalf of Liberty House Group said that “Georgetown is presented a great opportunity based on its reputation for making good quality products, a good workforce and for location.”
Mr Spelich stressed Liberty’s concept of “Greensteel,” to be environmentally friendly and socially responsible in its plants and communities.
Mr Spelich said that “We’re going to be spending several hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get the site cleaned up. If we’re successful as I know we will be, it will give us the opportunity to create different products, different lines, creating more jobs.”
Mr Keith Nagel, director of environmental affairs and real estate at ArcelorMittal USA, called the proposed rezoning a “death sentence” for the agreement between ArcelorMittal and Liberty Steel. He said that “The rezoning ordinance only guarantees that the site could be used as a steel mill for another five years. It also says that the structure of the steel mill cannot be substantially improved during those five years. It is unreasonable to expect Liberty (Steel) to buy the mill and make investments to secure its future, if they will only be able to operate it for a short time.”
Within the text of the proposed Redevelopment District zoning, the steel mill is grandfathered for five years to allow the owner to recoup their investment. However, an extension could be granted.
James Sanderson, president of Steelworkers Local 7898, which represents the plant, said the fact that a buyer has been confirmed should convince everybody that the plant is an asset for Georgetown. And, he noted that the Urban Land Institute study, which was instrumental in launching the proposed redevelopment plan, was not in competition with the steel plant reopening.
Source : South Strand News