La Plata, MD – Chaney Enterprises says they have had enough.

In a tense, often terse exchange between the applicants and the Charles County Planning Commission Monday, April 19, Chaney’s attorney, Page Wyler, said his client has done everything Planning staff had requested they do, then at the last moment, changed their mind and refused to endorse moving the facility’s gravel washing plant from its current location across the road to a lot zoned residential.

Staff said the proposed tract is located within a Tier IV designation, meaning it is zoned for preservation.

“Staff’s about-face was based on policy,” Wyler told the board. “We’re hoping the third time’s the charm. We’ve been before the board of special appeals. We’re not going back. We’re done. We’ve spent 10 years on this and spent millions of dollars.”

The issue is the proposed relocation of an existing Chaney Enterprises sand and gravel processing plant and ready-mix concrete plant from the west side of Mattawoman-Beantown Road to the east side of Mattawoman-Beantown Road approximately one-half mile to the north of the Maryland Transit Authority Park and Ride Facility.

Wyler said the new facility would create hundreds of new jobs and would resolve the issue of Lake Acton where the county has resolved to create a new metro transit station as part of the Waldorf Urban Revitalization effort.

“This is what all the plans envision for Waldorf in the next 30 years,” he said. “Acton is a significant part of that. The first step is to get the plant out of its current site. This move will create an enormous amount of new jobs which will result in added county revenues.”

Bill Childs, president of Chaney Enterprises since 1998, said the business has been in Charles County for 53 years and has always given 10 percent of its profits back to the community, through significant donations to the College of Southern Maryland. He said the company had received approval in 2010, but then county staff reversed field on the issue.

He reiterated the company was frustrated after a decade of working to gain approval.

Wyler said Chaney had jumped through all of the hoops, only to have “the rug pulled out from under them at the last moment,” a remark that brought a rebuke from county planning director Steve Ball.

“I don’t appreciate that statement,” Ball said.

John Dixon of Reliable Real Estate spoke in favor of allowing Chaney to relocate to the new site, claiming that Lake Acton was a crucial piece of the Waldorf revitalization effort for the proposed Metro station.

“If we can’t move this facility to the other side of the road, Lake Acton will not happen,” Dixon exclaimed.

Roland and Maria Thorpe said they were concerned about the increased dump truck traffic and environmental pollution the new facility might cause in their neighborhood, complaining of decreased property values should the move occur.

Sue Greer of the Charles County Chamber of Commerce said that company officials have been “good public stewards” and argued for the zoning change.

John Collier of the Southern Maryland Association of Realtors also spoke in support of the project.

“This is where it happens,” Collier said. “When they think of jobs, this is smart policy. It’s cheaper to be nice to the businesses we’ve got.”

County Planner Heather Kelly said that the proposed change from rural conservation to a heavy industrial zone could only be approved if there has been significant change to the neighborhood, which she argued has not happened.

“Revised conditions need to be considered,” Kelly said.

The staff recommended denying the application, she said.

While a Chaney employee argued that the character of the neighborhood had indeed changed and that very little mitigation would be required for the site, Ball disagreed with that conjecture.

“They haven’t passed the test,” he told the board. “That influenced the change in our opinion.”

The board opted to hold the public record open for 15 days for comment, but Wyler warned that if the zoning request is not approved, the company will leave the plant where it is and that the county would have to figure out what to do in the future when they want the property for its transit station.

“At some point in time after 10 years, you have to stop planning and start doing,” Wyler said.

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com