SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Compromise did not come swiftly, but neighboring residents and business owners concerned by Asphalt Services Inc.’s concrete pulverization activity on Old Highway 31 might soon breathe a little easier.

Despite his legal right to continue crushing concrete on county property adjacent to the company’s Spanish Fort headquarters, Asphalt Services President Charles A. Renfroe vowed during Monday’s city council meeting to consider halting such operations completely if the step would pave the way for the rezoning classification needed to operate a contractor’s storage yard on the company’s city property.

“I’m willing to give up the right to crush concrete on the county property,” Renfroe said, following a more than two-hour public hearing that, at times, featured heated exchanges and the unusual banging of the gavel by Mayor Joe Bonner to restore order.

“Obviously, I would like to be able to (crush concrete), but I (also) want to use the property I paid $400,000 for a year and a half ago,” Renfroe said.

No action was taken on the item because District 2 Councilman Mike McMillan was not in attendance. The issue will most likely be reconsidered during the Feb. 1 council meeting.

The creation of a contractor’s storage yard, which Renfroe contends is necessary to accommodate the 18-year-old company’s growth, requires an M-1, or light industrial, classification as opposed to the existing B-3, or general business, designation.

Renfroe’s rezoning request for the 6.5-acre parcel across from the I-10 Commerce Center surfaced before the Planning Commission in October. The desired shift from B-3 was pitched to bring the company’s activities into compliance. The commission voted 6-3 in early December against recommending the shift, however, in response primarily to neighbors’ complaints of noise, dust and heavy traffic caused by the crushing operations.

The pulverization activities have since been relocated to a different portion of the property that falls outside the city limits, but the consensus concern among council members Monday revolved around the slippery slope of allowing the company to store materials on city property for pulverization on adjacent county property that falls outside the council’s jurisdiction.

“If we don’t allow crushing on city property, we shouldn’t allow storage of materials to be crushed,” Bonner said in an attempt to drill down to the core of the city’s quandary.

District 3 Councilman Joe Thomas objected publicly to Renfroe knowingly commencing operations for which the property was not zoned.

“Mr. Renfroe knew what (the zoning) was when he bought his equipment and began operating it out there. I have problems with that,” Thomas said.

Renfroe said he purchased the concrete crushing equipment in April and admits he did not, at that time, check to see if the zoning classification allowed for the activity. Once the compliance issue was raised in July, the pulverization activity was initially halted and then shifted to the unincorporated county property.

Since that time, neighboring residents and business owners have objected vehemently to the crushing activities, citing increased noise and dust levels that could undermine and even compromise their own operations and quality of life.

I-10 Commerce Park business owner Bill Green said while he doesn’t oppose another businessman making a living, he objects to one company being allowed to operate in a manner that could jeopardize the livelihoods of existing and potential business owners in the park.

“I wouldn’t have invested what I invested in my building if I’d known this would be going on,” he said.

Green’s comments were echoed by businessman John E. Pate, who recently rezoned two lots in the business park to accommodate the construction of corporate offices as well as additional space for lease.

“I’ve invested $250,000 in land and architectural drawings…to build what I want to build,” Pate said, noting he will have a difficult time attracting tenants to what he bills as Class A office space if the crushing is allowed to proceed.

Former City Engineer Ronnie Gibson called the maneuver by Asphalt Services a “ruse” to sidestep the zoning classifications by placing the crushing activities on the county portion of the property and then request light industrial rezoning for the storage yard on city property, leaving the door open for the crushing activities to legally shift back into the corporate limits.

“This city was founded because we wanted governing…and to enforce land-use regulations with an honest, do-the-right-thing approach. This is a B-3 area, and Mr. Renfroe knew that property was zoned B-3 when he bought it,” Gibson said.

District 4 Councilman Tom Sawyer, who objected most vehemently to the actual manufacturing process employed by Asphalt Services falling outside his understanding of quiet and clean light industrial activity, called Renfroe’s apparent willingness to deed-restrict the county property from concrete crushing “encouraging.”

“I’m the problem here…and y’all are trying to deal with it,” Renfroe said as the issue inched toward resolution.

In other business the council:

The next regular meeting of the council will begin with a 5 p.m. work session in the conference room at City Hall on Feb.1, followed immediately by the regular meeting at 6 p.m. at the Gathering Place in the Prodisee Center.