Council Votes to Change City Code for Companies That Process Yard Waste

Mentor City Council voted to change its ordinance for companies that excavate, demolish and process yard waste Tuesday night.

However, it did not vote unanimously in favor of the change.

Originally, companies that processed yard waste in the city needed a 2,000-foot buffer zone from other businesses. However, a buffer that big almost made it impossible to legally process yard waste anywhere in Mentor, City Manager Ken Filipiak said.

Consequently,  what would be a more reasonable buffer size for months.

At times, council has considered making the buffer as small as 300 feet – which is what the Planning Commission recommended – and leaving it at 2,000 feet.

David Larsen, a Mentor resident who works as a quality manager at American Roll Form, asked council members not to shrink the buffer too much before they voted.

"Air contaminants reach farther than 1,000 feet," he said. "It goes farther than neighboring properties."

Ultimately, council voted to change the buffer to 1,000 feet. Six of seven council members voted for the change. Council President Robert Shiner voted against it.

Shiner is the Ward 1 representative and he noted the companies that process yard waste are in his ward. He said that he wanted the city to have the additional protection of the larger buffer zone.

Law Director Richard Hennig said that any company that wanted to process yard waste still had to fulfill several obligations. First, they would have to get a conditional use permit from the Mentor Planning Commission. During the permit process, the commission could increase the buffer area if they feel it is necessary, he said.

Likewise, the company can request a variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals if they feel a 1,000-foot buffer is too much.

Yard waste processors can only operate in areas zoned for manufacturing.