Westmoreland Cleanways proposes moving Unity recycling center to former machine shop
Westmoreland Cleanways says it can improve security and resume collection of used electronics if it moves its recycling collection center from Innovative Park, just off Route 30, to another location in Unity.
Neighbors of the proposed Cleanways site object to having discarded items dropped off in their community of homes and farmland near Pleasant Unity. Many also argue that tractor-trailers hauling items from the former machine shop along Phillips Road will damage the road and endanger pedestrians and bicyclists who use it.
After hearing testimony Tuesday from Cleanways Executive Director Ellen Keefe and eight opponents, the township zoning board has 45 days to decide whether to allow the recycling site as a change in nonconforming use on the agriculturally zoned property.
“If we approve it, it must have conditions,” said Jackie Nindel, who chairs the board.
The panel discussed limiting hours of operation at the 21-acre Phillips Road property and requiring that all recycling activity be confined to inside buildings.
Keefe testified that Cleanways wants to move so it can handle all drop-off, storage, packaging and loading of recyclable material inside the property's 10,000-square-foot steel Quonset hut — a step up from the 3,400 square feet in its current building.
“We outgrew the space, the demand for our services was so great,” Keefe said. The new property would be gated, with security cameras and a security system, she said.
Several residents pointed out such measures wouldn't prevent someone from dumping unauthorized, potentially hazardous, waste at the front of the property.
Cleanways is not able to store all recyclables under roof at Innovative Park. Since its headquarters there was hit by arson April 12, the nonprofit has suspended drop-offs of televisions and other electronics.
It was one of the few sites accepting used electronics at no charge. According to Keefe, it shipped more than 2.75 million pounds of TVs since 2015 for processing by JVS Environmental, a Somerset County firm owned by Twin Lakes Holdings — the company proposing to purchase the Phillips Road property and lease it to Cleanways.
According to Unity solicitor Gary Falatovich, township engineers determined Phillips Road can withstand the addition to daily traffic of a recyclables-laden tractor-trailer weighing up to 50,000 pounds.
Several neighbors who testified weren't convinced.
“It's a narrow road, and the road is not in the best quality,” said Jodi Busko. When it was part of a detour route for a closed bridge, “the edges of the road kept breaking off,” she said.
Gregory Vidakovich suggested the recycling center would be better suited for the Westmoreland Airpark industrial park near Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity.
Keefe said Cleanways can't afford to lease space there. A plan to relocate to a site near Yukon fell through last year.
If Cleanways occupies the Phillips Road property, it will plant a buffer of trees on three sides and will clean up debris there, Keefe said.
“That's one of the worst illegal dumps I've seen in 19 years,” she said.
Keefe said Cleanways eventually would consider adding an office and educational center to underline the importance of recycling and to showcase the use of recycled materials in building construction.
Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6622, jhimler@tribweb.com or via Twitter @jhimler_news.
