Recycling Plant to be Built as Branch Facility

Nearly one year after a Manatee County, Fla., hearing officer approved the construction of a controversial recycling facility, the plant's operator will finally start building it.

In about two weeks, Meyer and Gabbert Excavating Contractors Inc. will begin preliminary site work on the approximately $500,000 complex, said James Gabbert, president of the Sarasota, Fla.-based company.

When Gabbert initially sought a special permit for the project - slated for 26 acres roughly one mile east of Verna Road - he hoped the county would approve the recycling of all construction and demolition materials, including concrete and left-over plywood.

Citing the property's agricultural zoning, the county only signed off on natural waste like trees and other plants.

As his firm prepares to start construction, Gabbert said that decision makes the endeavor somewhat bittersweet.

The land, which Meyer and Gabbert paid about $1.6 million for in 2001, is zoned agricultural.

Construction has yet to commence, because it took Meyer and Gabbert months to secure approval from the Southwest Florida Water Management District and get final site-plan approval from the county.

"After we received the special permit we still had to get approvals from all the appropriate agencies," Gabbert said.

It's not uncommon for applicants to wait as long as one year after approval to start work on a project, said Bob Pederson, the county's community planning administrator.

Meyer and Gabbert hopes to have the structure built by June, Gabbert said.

The company operates a recycling facility on 63rd Street East that accepts a wider array of materials including demolition and construction waste. Gabbert still holds out hope that the rules could be changed to make the S.R. 70 site more comprehensive as well. Bradenton Herald