The Cookeville Board of Zoning Appeals approved a zoning exception Thursday to accommodate an expansion project for Novastus.
The recycling company already operates at 20 CC Camp Road, and wants to expand production. Community Development Director Jon Ward said the facility sorts out recyclable materials such as plastic water bottles, ferrous, and non-ferrous metals. Ward said the only reason the request is before the board is that the facility will have a recycling component, essentially deeming it a recycling center.
“Recycling is allowed in the code as a use permitted upon appeal, so that has to go before the board,” Ward said. “I think as far as the processing goes, our building official did tour the facility, and he was, you know, his determination after, when he looked into it, was that it was compliant.”
A representative for Sparrow Ventures Group said that Novastus has operated at full capacity over the last four years and has not received any complaints. However, the owner of the adjacent apartment complex, Tyler Brown, said he receives constant complaints from tenants about trash and odor from the facility.
“He was saying there are no problems since day one, and that’s not true,” Brown said. “We have had a problem since day one. We have a problem with trash that comes out of the building that gets blown over that collects on our property. We have a problem with the smell. You can smell the process within a several-hundred-foot radius from the building at most times of the day.”
Ward said the city has not received any complaints about trash or odor. Board Member Elwood Ervin said he has not seen the issues either.
“Well, I drove around the building today, this afternoon, and I didn’t smell anything, and that’s what I was looking for,” Ervin said. “And I didn’t see anything, trash blowing, so I don’t know if that’s good housekeeping or what.”
Several residents expressed concerns about Novastus’s increase in production with the expansion. Ward said complaints about production volume are not for the Board of Zoning Appeals to decide.
“We are not deciding their volume right,” Ward said. “I mean, that’s what they presented this request to the city to consider, and I think you are talking about something that the county would be involved in as far as tonnage of trash, that wouldn’t be under our purview.”
Board Member Michael Detwiler advised the residents to report the problem to the city if there is a problem.