SALISBURY — The Rowan County Board of Commissioners voted Monday to approve a conditional district for a yard-waste recycling site in Enochville. The rezoning had been the subject of extensive debate in a hearing held during the September planning board meeting.

Joseph Keller requested a conditional district that would allow him to establish a yard-waste recycling site that both he and Planning Director Ed Muire said would only be allowed to receive limbs, stumps and leaves in order to turn them into mulch. The two-acre waste site would be placed within the 95-acre property that Keller owns and already uses to excavate dirt for the past several years, according to Muire’s report. The property is located in the 5800 block of Wright Road.

Although Keller was not present at the commissioner meeting to agree to any conditions, Muire said that if the commissioners wished to place any additional restrictions on the request that he would relay them to Keller and see if he agreed. Restrictions on conditional districts require the agreement of both the commissioners and the property owner.

Commissioner Mike Caskey said that he wanted to place a restriction on the business hours of the recycling site. He said that because the site is in the middle of two churches and near a few more, he hoped that asking Keller to not run the business on Sunday would prevent traffic or dust from the recycling site to interfere with churchgoers.

Although none spoke at the commissioner meeting, neighbors had raised concerns before the planning board about Keller’s alleged inability to contain issues within his property. One of the major historical issues that raised concerns was a large, multi-day fire on the property in 2022.

“At one point, fire was about 40 feet from our residence and less than that to a shop that was still open. So I ask that you take into account what happened with the fire and smoke and that fire burned for almost six months,” said Randy Carter, a neighbor who said he’s also a firefighter with Enochville Fire Department and works in fire service in Kannapolis, during the September meeting.

Keller and his family acknowledged that the fire occurred on their property, but said that he spent almost a week straight attempting to help fire departments put out the blaze, even going without sleep.

The commissioners also worried about the potential for odor to bother the neighbors, as there are many residences in the immediate vicinity of the property. Craig Powers, environmental management director for the county, said that there was not much the property owner could do to prevent odors. When he worked with the city of Salisbury, they placed a yard-waste recycling site on the same property as a sewer treatment plant as a work-around.

Powers also noted that the state maintains regulations on composting sites that Keller would have to follow to stay in business, such as temperature control to prevent fires.

At the end of the discussion, the commissioners voted unanimously to approve the conditional district request dependent on Keller agreeing to cease operations for the entirety of Sunday. Other conditions recommended by planning staff and approved by the commissioners were that the two-acre area be surveyed and staked to prevent any sprawling; the applicant obtain a commercial driveway permit through the North Carolina Department of Transportation; the applicant update the site plan for the property with the location of fences, gates and signs; and the applicant apply crushed stone to the driveway to reduce dust.