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Cleburne council approves specific-use permit for concrete batching plant on Windmill Road after heated public hearing
Summary
After residents raised concerns about dust, truck traffic and visibility, the Cleburne City Council approved a specific-use permit allowing DFW Concrete Products to operate a concrete batching and production facility with outside storage at 3835 and 3941 Windmill Road, subject to the Planning & Zoning Commission's recommended screening option.
The Cleburne City Council approved a specific-use permit on Tuesday allowing DFW Concrete Products to operate a concrete batching and production facility with outside storage on about 9.74 acres at 3835 and 3941 Windmill Road.
The council voted to adopt the Planning & Zoning Commission's recommendation that the site include screening option 1, which calls for an 8-foot precast concrete wall with decorative stone finish and an established buffer of trees. The developer agreed to plant trees and to use compacted asphalt millings on storage-yard surfaces to reduce dust.
Planner Sarah Bergman told the council the proposal had previously been considered by the Planning & Zoning Commission, which recommended approval by a 6'0to' 0 vote after the applicant revised the plan. Bergman said the operation is a specialized precast production facility, estimated to produce about 75 cubic yards a day and generate roughly 13 delivery truck trips per day.
Applicant representative Keenan Williams said truck traffic would be routed south along the same corridor used by nearby distribution centers to limit impacts on residents to the north, and that dust mitigation measures meet Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requirements. "Asphalt millings... will drastically reduce the dust emissions," Williams said, and the applicant also offered a five-year hardware warranty and licensing terms for proposed surveillance equipment.
Neighbors who opposed the SUP said the site sits too close to homes and expressed worries about blowing aggregate, early start times and sight-line hazards on a nearby S-curve. One resident said, "Both of our trash cans were knocked over" after pulling into her driveway, and warned that wind and truck traffic would push dust onto adjacent properties.
Council members acknowledged the neighbors' concerns while noting that industrial uses are permitted by right under the property's zoning and that the SUP process gives the city control over screening and operational conditions that would not exist otherwise. After extended discussion and public comment, the council approved the SUP; the clerk recorded the vote as "Motion is 2 4, 1 opposed and 1 abstention." The council directed staff to notify the applicant of any permit conditions.
The approval allows the applicant to move forward with the contract and site work under the terms brought before the council; the permit includes the screening and dust-control measures the council endorsed. The Planning & Zoning Commission's recommended conditions and the final ordinance will detail any operational limits or monitoring requirements.
