Augusta commission approves Waste Management request to reopen Goshen transfer station with conditions

The Augusta Commission voted to approve a special exception allowing an indoor municipal solid-waste sorting and transfer station at 3946 Goshen Industrial Boulevard, staff said.

Rachel Martin, planner with Planning and Development, told commissioners the roughly 10.33-acre site includes a warehouse, parking and a detention pond and was previously operated as a transfer station under a 1995 special exception. Martin said the property meets setback, height and parking requirements in the Heavy Industrial district and is not located in a FEMA special flood hazard area. She said the request would operate under state permit-by-rule authority from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and that engineering requested a letter of consistency and a copy of a renewed industrial permit for the engineering department’s review.

Michael Stowe, South Atlantic area environmental compliance manager for Waste Management, said the company seeks to reopen the existing building without exterior expansion and would perform maintenance and interior work to resume operations. “We’re looking to be a partner with the city to allow another area for solid waste disposal on that end,” Stowe said, adding the operation would help reduce truck travel across town and improve collection efficiency.

Commissioners questioned operations and neighborhood impacts. In response to whether material would be stored overnight, Stowe said the facility expects to handle roughly 200–250 tons per day and that, under the state permit-by-rule, waste is turned within 24 hours; he said typical operations often result in a 12-hour cycle. When asked about odors, Stowe said the operation would be fully inside a building with bay doors (not open three-sided bays), and that staff would sequence more odorous loads to minimize persistent smells. “Garbage does generate odor,” Stowe said, “but we do things to mitigate that and minimize that as much as possible.”

Commissioner McKnight asked whether trucks would be stored outside overnight. Stowe described internal truck bays that can load two tractor-trailers and said trailers may be tarped when staged briefly but that ongoing outdoor trash storage is not the company’s intent.

Planning staff recommended approval with five conditions: Waste Management must submit a letter of consistency to the Augusta Engineering Department that the commission must approve before any permits or licenses are applied for; the development must comply with the Augusta tree ordinance; approval of the special exception does not substitute for required site-plan approval; the project must comply with city development standards as amended at the time of development; and no trash or storage shall be kept outside the building (staff clarified the language to allow brief staging but prohibit outdoor trash storage). The petitioner accepted the conditions.

A commissioner moved and seconded approval; the chair called the question and the motion passed (voice vote). The commission noted the special exception will not be valid until the required letter of consistency is approved by the Augusta Commission.

The decision closes the matter before the commission unless the petitioner pursues further changes required by site plan review or engineering.