Tonnage Revealed for Proposed Recycling Facility in Yorktown
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Trucks carrying 800 tons of material are expected to travel daily on Route 6 to a proposed recycling facility in Jefferson Valley.
The amount of construction material and recyclables projected for the Atrac Recycling Facility on 18 acres near Navajo Fields was revealed during a July 15 Yorktown Planning Board meeting as the location of the 40,000-square-foot building on the site was discussed.
AAA Carting CFO Pat Cartalemi, owner of the Atrac operation, said approximately 600 tons of construction debris from projects with a demolition permit and 200 tons of cardboard, paper, bottles and cans would be processed and then hauled away to other facilities.
Cartalemi, who noted similar facilities currently exist in Elmsford and the Somers/Bedford area, said most of the material at Atrac would come from Westchester and Putnam counties. There are no recycling facilities in Putnam, according to Cartalemi.
Trucks would enter the site from Navajo Road off Route 6. The recycling facility is permitted in the I-1 (industrial) district in Yorktown’s Zoning Code.
Atrac is seeking a zoning variance from the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals to place the building in a certain area with a limited wetlands setback but can proceed without it if necessary.
“You need to find the best layout on the site given the parameters,” said Planning Director John Tegeder. “Figure out where on this site is the building in the best position to manage all of the impacts to its neighbors. No matter what you do on the site you will have encroachment in the wetlands and wetlands buffer.”
Planning Board member William LaScala said he would recommend the variance not be granted since Atrac’s owner knew the zoning restrictions on the property when it was purchased.
Planning Board Chairman Richard Fon said the site presented many challenges.
“To me it looks like you’re kind of pushing a lot into a property that might not be accommodating to what the development is, and what they’re looking for,” Fon said. “The more we dig into this, the more questions we have. Maybe it’s too big the building. Maybe it has to be scaled down. Maybe there’s too much going on. I don’t know.”
The Planning Board will continue its review of the project at its Aug. 12 meeting.
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