Planning Board backs rezoning for Triad Metal Recyclers on Memorial Road despite neighbor concerns

The Yadkinville Planning Board unanimously adopted a consistency statement and recommended approval of ZMA-2026-03 on June 15, forwarding a rezoning request for Parcel 129110 on Memorial Road from Highway Business to Heavy Industrial for Triad Metal Recyclers.

Planning Director Meredith Detsch told the board the 7.87-acre parcel sits at the edge of the town's extraterritorial jurisdiction and is partially in an AE floodplain at the southern portion; the town's Future Land Use Map classifies the location as an Employment Center. Detsch said the change would require a Major Special Use Permit (MSUP) from the Board of Commissioners because the proposed use is in the intensive-industrial category under the Development Ordinance and adjacent property owners will have an opportunity to testify at the quasi-judicial hearing.

Applicant representatives described a proposed enclosed 100-by-115-foot structure that would house a solid-waste transfer station and scales adjacent to the current recycling operation. Engineer Stacey Smith said state permitting steps already require review of wetlands, endangered species, floodplain impacts and stormwater; he added the owners have a stormwater system for existing operations and that municipal water and sewer do not serve the site. Owner/operator Vann Winslow said the new facility would be enclosed, operate on hours similar to the existing business and could add about 8–10 new jobs to the roughly 38 employees already on site.

Nearby residents told the board they oppose expansion. Melissa Rayborn said she bought her house in 2007 and would not have done so had she known of the industrial use next door, citing ongoing debris and illegal dumping, a recent fire at the facility and noise she says now keeps her two-year-old grandson indoors during the day. Landowner Kirk Cleary voiced concern about runoff from the site and potential pollution in the creek that divides his 55-acre property from the applicant's land and drains to a reservoir.

Detsch said enforcement of some solid-waste issues in the extraterritorial jurisdiction may fall to Yadkin County and that staff would provide contacts for county enforcement. Smith said the recycling operation conducts quarterly water sampling under state rules and that property owners sweep in front of the site and could expand sweeping efforts. The town's Development Ordinance requires a Type 2 buffer where Heavy Industrial abuts other zoning districts, and projects that disturb more than one acre must include on-site stormwater management; fencing and required plantings were discussed as part of meeting the buffer standard.

After discussion of environmental and nuisance concerns, board member Virgil Dodson moved to adopt the June 15 consistency statement and recommend approval of ZMA-2026-03; R.J. Speaks seconded. The motion passed 5–0. Planning staff said the Board of Commissioners will receive the rezoning and the related Major Special Use Permit application, with notifications and hearings scheduled for July 6.

The Planning Board's approval is a recommendation; the final decisions on the rezoning and the MSUP rest with the Board of Commissioners and with state permitting for environmental and stormwater requirements. Neighbors and interested residents were told how to contact county enforcement offices about specific debris or dumping complaints and were advised the Planning staff would provide additional contact information and notice of the upcoming hearings.