Proposed Soddy-Daisy concrete plant denied by Hamilton County Commission

The property where the proposed concrete plant would have gone.

SODDY-DAISY, Tenn. (WDEF)-  Soddy-Daisy residents showed up by the dozens Wednesday at Hamilton County Commission.

Doing so in opposition to a proposed plant.

The developer of the plant, Darrell Jones of Marion County, calls it a concrete plant.

Those opposed called it a cement plant.

Whatever term should be used, the proposal on Igou Ferry Road was up for a vote, and the results pleased most of the audience.

Residents celebrated the decision by the Hamilton County Commission to block the proposed plant in Soddy-Daisy by a 9-1 vote.

Commissioner Mike Chauncey was the only commissioner to vote in favor.

Commissioner Gene-O Shipley, who represents Soddy-Daisy, says he received over 50 phone calls from concerned residents on the topic.

Shipley said, “They were opposed for various reasons. The amount of traffic that could be put on Igou Ferry Road. That’s number one. Number two, the chemicals used in cement. Gravel dust, silicate.”

The proposed plant would’ve been located right next to an RV Park, and if you look right across the street, the Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant.

“The subdivision facing right at where this property was, a lot of them had no idea. This was kind of swift, you would say or month or two is enough, but it was swift with everything else going on,” said Soddy-Daisy resident Wanda Senters.

Developer Darrell Jones defended his project, saying it would meet a high demand for concrete in relation to new homes being built in Soddy-Daisy.

“Directly across the street from the nuclear power plant, the most industrial piece in Hamilton, I can’t think of a better spot,” said Jones.

Senters tells Jones, “He does not even live in our area. He lives in Guild, Tennessee, so go build it in your yard. Build it in your community and see how the folks would like it there.”

However, residents say they are grateful the zoning process is not a rubberstamp, citing other previous projects in northern Hamilton County that have been approved.

“It encourages us to see that things are not just passed, slide the paper over and it’s done with, that you need to pay attention to the people,” Senters said.

Jones must now wait a year before attempting to apply for this development again.