Company seeks rehearing to allow fuel transfer station in south Bibb County
Epic Midstream, a company that wants to put a rail terminal and ethanol fuel transfer station in south Bibb County, is trying again to get approval.
The Houston, Texas-based company received approval in November from the Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission to rezone about 50 acres at 2048 Barnes Ferry Road from an agricultural district to a wholesale and light industrial district. The site would be combined with an adjacent 30-acre site that was already zoned for industrial uses.
At that meeting, however, the commission denied a conditional-use permit on the site to allow a rail spur to transfer ethanol from Norfolk Southern rail cars to Epic's pipeline. The company has a similar rail spur at its rail facility in Savannah, according to its website.
In denying the permit, commissioners cited concerns about safety of the operation.
The company wants to pump the ethanol through a new underground pipeline to its nearby storage facility. The company would maintain a 100-foot tree buffer across the front property line on Barnes Ferry Road. The site is surrounded mostly by vacant land, except for a single-family development across Barnes Ferry Road.
Epic Mainstream has filed a rehearing request for a new conditional-use permit, and it is expected to be heard during Monday's meeting.
"The request for rehearing is only to decide if the new information they have submitted is enough to warrant a rehearing," P&Z Executive Director Jim Thomas said in an email. "If the commission grants the rehearing, then it's like starting over."
Several residents have campaigned against the company's plans, as some of them were directly affected by a leak in the 1980s from a jet fuel pipeline owned by a different company. They are concerned that the ethanol fuel transfer station would be detrimental to their health and to nearby property.
For the rehearing, the company has submitted a revised conceptual plan showing "material changes to the site plan configuration, including engineering and safety controls and the relocations of the de-loading portion of the rail spur," according to the commission's staff report. The company also is expected to meet with neighborhood representatives" to address their concerns.
If the rehearing request is approved, the earliest the conditional-use permit would be heard is Feb. 8, Thomas said.
Epic Midstream is focused on acquiring and enhancing multimodal petroleum and chemical storage and handling assets, according to the company's website. It is funded through private equity and has refined product storage terminals located in the Southeast.
The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. in the commission chambers at the Macon-Bibb County Government Center, 700 Poplar St., which is a change from its normal hearing location.
Other items on the agenda are:
CONDITIONAL USES:
3850 Riverside Drive: Conditional use to allow a restaurant with outside seating, C-2 District. Ning Chiou, Chico & Chang Restaurant. applicant.
2821 Mercer University Drive, 430 Hortman Ave. and 430 Edwards Ave.: Conditional use with variances in rear setback requirements to allow a church and accessory building, R-2 District. Paul Kelley, applicant.
MANUFACTURED HOMES:
6244 Houston Road: Conditional use to allow expansion of trailer park to facilitate two additional manufactured homes, Agricultural District. Henry Butts, applicant.
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS:
2248 Clayton St.: Certificate of Appropriateness to allow design approval of fence location and material, HPD District. Alex Freel, applicant.
SIGNS:
4835 Harrison Road: Variance in sign requirements to allow a freestanding sign with reduction in distance requirements, C-4 District. MHC Kensworth LL, George Greer, applicant.
3051 Kumho Parkway: Variance in sign requirements at a manufacturing plant, M-2 District. Sign Topia, applicant.
VARIANCES:
5662 Dixon Road: Variance to allow a flag lot, A-Agricultural District. Michael Flynn, applicant.
3101 Hillcrest Ave.: Variance in setback requirements to allow a fence, M-1 District. Chris Clark, applicant.
218 Oakleaf Drive: Variance in rear setback requirements to allow a screened porch, R-1AAA District. Milton Moore, applicant.
RATIFICATION:
3805 Andrews Drive: Variance in rear building setback for building addition, R-1A District [15-21473]. Maggie Newton, applicant.
To contact writer Linda S. Morris, call 744-4223, or follow her on Twitter@MidGaBiz.
This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Company seeks rehearing to allow fuel transfer station in south Bibb County ."