SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – The Sioux City Council is postponing a decision on a zoning change that could allow construction company Knife River to move its operations to the Leeds neighborhood.
This rezoning proposal would rezone a 30-acre property at 3700 Jefferson Street from general commercial to general industrial.
Knife River had approached the owner of that property in hopes of possibly moving its facilities there because it could build a larger facility than the one it already has on Hawkeye Drive.
The council decided to postpone its decision for several reasons: The main reason was that not all council members were present at the meeting on Monday evening and they did not feel they should The Decision made without a full Council meeting. Other reasons were that some Leeds residents approached the Council and expressed their concerns about the impact that the relocation of the Knife River into the area could have on the quality of life of Leeds residents.
“I think too many people could be affected by this. Financially, it could affect your home sales; how quickly you can sell your house when you live so close to what Knife River is doing. Quality of life from noise, dust, the smell of the asphalt,” said Leeds resident David Raymond. “With all the things Knife River is doing, they should do it, but I don’t think they should do it in this area.”
The city council ultimately decided to postpone this decision for three weeks. KTIV spoke to Mayor Bob Scott after the meeting about what questions the council still has about the proposal.
“I think some of the city council would still support the project. I speak for them, and I shouldn’t. But they want to see this zoning plan to try to get as many of the things that might be a little detrimental to the neighborhood out of the neighborhood as possible,” said Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott.
The city council hopes to receive a detailed site plan of Knife River in the next three weeks, outlining where the buildings and trucks will be located, what material the roads will be built from and what measures will be taken to protect surrounding residential areas.
The next discussion of the proposal will take place at the Council meeting on Monday 9 September.
All rights reserved.
