Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Alliance Metals
By John Gutekunst | Parkerpioneer.net
Alliance Metals has described the Dec. 5 La Paz County Planning and Zoning Commission meeting as unfair and an effort to “stack the deck” against them. In a press release dated Dec. 6, the company said the decision to hold the meeting at the Centennial Community Center in Wenden was “unusual, irregular and unprecedented.”
Alliance has plans to build an aluminum recycling smelter on U.S Route 60 between Wenden and Salome. One of the leading opponents of the plan, Gary Saiter, said the meeting was moved to Wenden from its normal location in Parker so more people who would be directly affected by the smelter would have a chance to attend.
At the Dec. 5 meeting, the commission voted to recommend the Board of Supervisors reject a change to the county’s comprehensive plan and also reject a zoning change that would have allowed for the smelter. A parade of local residents spoke out against the proposed smelter. They were concerned about emissions, hazardous materials used in the process and by-products of the process, the potential negative effect this would have on nearby agricultural facilities, and the fact the smelter was not being planned in an area already zoned for industry.
