Decatur City board keeps Decatur Steel's special-exception permit, requires compliance with Board of Works rules

The Decatur City Board of Zoning Appeals decided not to revoke the special-exception permit for Decatur Steel but attached a condition requiring the company to comply with the Decatur Board of Works ordinances and determinations.

At the hearing the board framed the matter narrowly as a notice of revocation tied to alleged violations of the permit's hours-of-operation condition. Ben Bailey, attorney for Decatur Steel, told the board that "mitigation of efforts have been ongoing and are continuing to to make progress" and emphasized there have been "no violations" of the hours during the intervening review period. Bailey said the company would accept reasonable stipulations: "...if the board were decide that there should be some other conditions in place, we ... would agree to certain stipulations based on the outcome of today's hearing."

Board members discussed several possible conditions and enforcement pathways, including drainage, screening, training for securement of materials and referral to the Board of Works for fines or abatement. The board then moved to a finding: if it did not revoke the permit, the decision would be conditioned on the applicant's compliance with Decatur Board of Works ordinances and determinations. The motion to retain the permit on that condition carried.

The chair said staff would prepare findings of fact based on the hearing record and circulate them to the board; the matter is expected to be monitored at the next BZA meeting in roughly two weeks. The board also directed follow-up to the Board of Works and recommended that health officials look into standing water and potential environmental concerns raised by neighbors.