It seems every few months in the new you see a small town battling a concrete company who wants to build concrete batch plants within its borders. These plants bring jobs to the local area and help boost the economy but they also bring noise, pollution and other issues for residents. While most cities have zoning codes that prohibit plants like this from going up in residential neighborhoods, it really depends on the city. Let’s look at why these plants cause trouble in communities across the nation.
A Look at Concrete Batch Plants
Depending on where the concrete batch plants are built, they can cause headaches for communities. The noise, smells and the coming and going all effect the neighborhood, including quality of life and traffic patterns. For small communities, losing these things isn’t worth the jobs and economic boost these concrete batch plants bring to their cities.
In most cases, concrete companies will reach out to the community when they are interested in building a plant there. They’re hold community forums and get feedback from residents, along with leaders. They can determine if the plant will cause issues or not. Most of the time, these companies take this feedback seriously; unfortunately, in others they don’t and they continue with plans to build despite criticism from residents and leaders.
If you live in a community that has a concrete company interested in building a batch plant, make sure to stay involved in the discussion. Go to community forums, write to your city officials and voice your opinion. Keep the discussion lines open between you and the concrete company, along with the city. Don’t think other community members will do it for you, every voice matters.
By working together with a concrete company, you can come to an agreement that’s beneficial for both sides when concrete batch plants are being planned in your neck of the woods.