I have been busy as of late with a number of trucking companies, primarily drayage of containers to and from the port terminals. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to locate good sites with the appropriate zoning. Apparently the cities have been changing the regs to keep containers in Heavy Industrial zones. While I might understand this move in an attempt to improve the residential neighborhoods in close proximity, it astounds me that with Port activities increasing and even new terminals scheduled to open in the future, that the cities would force these trucking companies to relocate outside of city limits. These actions will ultimately lead to more congestion on the highways in and out of the terminal areas as well as reduce the tax base. It would seem to me that before making those decisions, a complete review of land within the cities be further reviewed and maybe more rezoned as Heavy Industrial or M-2, to be able to accommodate the shifts desired. Now we are forced to look at County property which may be less restrictive or further out beyond the city limits. Case in point, where i have had 2 companies extremely interested in a site which is now in the Light Industrial zone. I was told by Planning that if there is one container involved, regardless if on a chasis and just parking for a few days or grounded, it would not be allowed. Now if you stand in the middle of the site, and look directly across the street, there are containers stacked 5 high and chasis stacked as well. In addition, I spoke with the owner of the site who has been marketing the site for truck parking for some time (because thats what its been for many years) only to learn its not allowed any longer. This is a huge impact to the owner, given it is unlikely this site would be of interest to any other businesses. Well, I have not finished with my discussions on this subject. Given Iam very focused on the Trucking industry and Port related industries as a whole, I need to keep pushing for appropriate solutions. more to follow…

Posted: Monday, December 12th, 2011 @ 8:13 pm
Categories: Uncategorized.
Tags: Charleston, containers, truck parking.
Subscribe to the comments feed if you like. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.