Residents, No Ethanol group tell Fernandina Beach commission proposed bioethanol plant violates comp plan

Several residents and organized opponents pressed the Fernandina Beach City Commission on Jan. 7 to reject a proposed Ryan bioethanol plant, arguing the proposal is a prohibited use under the city's comprehensive plan and land development code.

John Hart, who presented slides on site layout and emergency access, said the Ryan site would be "a chemical manufacturing plant" with refining processes and close proximity to ponds and a clarifier that raise first-responder and evacuation concerns. "This plant is going to be right here ... much, much too close to many sources of spark," Hart said during a slide presentation.

Speakers associated with No Ethanol, Fernandina (Tom Budd, Franklin Heilman and others) cited a Weiss Rota legal memorandum and argued fermentation plus fractional distillation constitute chemical manufacturing or refining and therefore are expressly prohibited by the comp plan and LDC. Budd said the application's claim that the process is not chemical manufacturing was "a ludicrous argument" and urged denial on grounds that the use is prohibited.

Medardo Monson, speaking for the opposition's technical team, told commissioners that fermentation is a chemical reaction and that fractional distillation is a refining process, again asserting the project falls under the comp-plan/LDC prohibitions.

City staff said the Ryan application had been deemed incomplete; applicants have 30 days to submit missing items and staff then has 5 days to re-review. If completed in time, the earliest technical review committee (TRC) meeting would be Feb. 27. No final decision on the permit was made at the Jan. 7 meeting.

Commissioners took public testimony during the public-comment period, and several speakers offered to support the city's legal position, including pro bono expertise from scientists and engineers, if staff or the commission pursues denial.