Residents in the West Seventh Street area opposed to a planned compressed natural gas fueling station for St. Paul’s designated new citywide trash hauler have been dealt a setback before a key city committee.

The St. Paul Planning Commission’s zoning committee voted 3-2 Thursday to deny their appeal of a staff-driven zoning clarification that paves the way for FCC Environmental to pursue a $25 million fleet maintenance and truck dispatch facility in an industrial area two blocks off West Seventh Street. The recommendation will be forwarded for consideration by the full planning commission, which meets next Thursday.

In January, city staff found that FCC Environmental’s planned project is largely comparable to a city public works yard and maintenance facility, making it an appropriate fit for the “light industrial” zoning already in place at 560 Randolph Ave., a former tow lot located between West Seventh and the Mississippi River.

“Because the (zoning) code does not define or describe this use, planning staff appropriately compared our proposed use to a similar public works use located elsewhere in the city,” said Greg Revering, the general on-site manager for FCC Environmental. “Both facilities operate or will operate with similar components, such as employee offices, parking, fleet parking, fueling stations and a maintenance garage.”

Appeal filed

Through the West Seventh/Fort Road Federation, residents filed an appeal of the zoning clarification, arguing that the project had been treated like a public service and given extra zoning leeway that would not ordinarily be awarded to a compressed natural gas facility proposed by a large commercial enterprise.

Founded in Spain, FCC Environmental has grown to become one of the world’s largest waste and recycling companies, with presence in more than 35 countries.

Nearly 20 residents opposed to the proposed facility lined up at downtown City Hall on Thursday to testify before the city zoning committee, during the final hour of a nearly four-hour committee meeting. Some fought tears as they expressed fear that a fleet of more than 30 trash trucks could endanger lives and bring noise and disruption to the area.

“Highland Park would never have allowed FCC at Highland Bridge,” said longtime resident John Yust, who said the site should be swapped for elsewhere in the city.

Industrial use, city planning

The block around the former tow lot is dotted with industrial uses, but a variety of city planning documents — including the city’s “Great River Passage” master plan — have foreseen that end of Randolph Avenue developing into a residential and mixed-use corridor, with bicycle and pedestrian connections linking West Seventh Street to the river.

“We say one thing in one plan, and make this promise,” said committee chair Simon Taghioff, who voted to support the Fort Road Federation’s appeal. “There’s a real policy conflict here.”

Taking the opposite tack, committee member Libby Starling likened the project to a fleet of privately-owned yellow school buses contracted by a public school district for the public purpose of serving students.

“In my mind, it clearly meets the (comparison to a) public works yard,” said Starling, who later voted with the majority to deny the appeal.

Under a contract with the city, FCC Environmental is expected to begin servicing 90% of St. Paul’s residential trash routes in April.