Recycler proposes plant near airport

A zoning map and special use permit were approved on Tuesday that will allow the operation of a 26,000-square-foot recycling plant near Minden-Tahoe Airport.

The plant proposed by A&S Metals will sit on a nine-acre site south of Airport Road on the west side of Heybourne Lane in the Meridian Business Park.

The zone change was from light to general industrial.

Proponents A&S Metals has been recycling metals since 1969, starting in Castroville, Calif. It now operates eight plants in California’s Central Valley and near Monterey Bay, including Castroville.

Under the proposal approved Tuesday, the plant would be processing metal, wood, asphalt and concrete.

They anticipate two deliveries daily at the outset and eventually grow to four to five truckloads a day.

All the material processing will occur indoors, with conveyor systems supporting the crushing, grinding and bailing o0f the materials.

Owners don’t intend of accepting recycling materials from the public, which is currently done by Douglas Disposal.

Douglas County commissioners are scheduled to hear the zone change on Nov. 4, though that date is tentative.

Planning commissioners asked the company to do a report on their activities after a year, though an effort to include that as a condition failed a vote.

Planning commissioners also approved a commercial subdivision next door to Minden’s maintenance yard located off Buckeye Road.

The project would subdivide 6.73 acres on Park Ranch Holdings property into 20 parcels.

The site is zoned light industrial. The individual lots would serve as storage facilities with individual owners.