SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Asphalt Services’ plans to resume concrete crushing activities on its Old Highway 31 property were dealt a severe blow Monday when the Planning Commission rejected the company’s rezoning request, voting 6-3 against recommending the shift from a B-3, or General Business, to an M-1, or Light Industrial, classification.

The request will now progress to the City Council, whose members can choose to follow the commission’s recommendation and deny rezoning or elect among themselves to reclassify the property.

Building Official Bruce Renkert said the item would not even appear on the council’s agenda before the Jan. 18 meeting, and he would not expect any action to be taken before February.

The request, submitted to the Planning Commission by businessman Charles A. Renfroe, seeks to bring operations previously conducted on the 6.5-acre parcel across from the I-10 Commerce Center into compliance. The company had been using the property adjacent to its existing office and warehouse operation as a storage yard as well as to pulverize and recycle concrete.

The company halted the pulverization activity in July when the likelihood of a zoning violation was raised, but the rezoning request has drawn ire from neighboring residents and business owners who cite increased noise and dust levels that could undermine and even compromise their own operations and quality of life.

A petition circulated at Monday’s meeting was drafted by adjacent property owner, Al Morgan, and signed by a total of 13 surrounding landowners. The petition decries the allowance of increased traffic, noise and dust that, petitioners feel, raise health, environmental, economic and safety concerns.

Former City Engineer Ronnie Gibson also submitted a letter criticizing the request as a backdoor attempt at “spot zoning” and chastising Asphalt Services for purchasing property in a noncompliant zone when adjacent unzoned parcels were available in unincorporated portions of the county.

Asphalt Services’ J.D. Odom noted that the company has always operated as a responsible corporate citizen, having invested $1 million to date in the property and exploring whether the Alabama Department of Environmental Management requires the operation to obtain additional permitting for its activities. Odom said ADEM has indicated additional permitting will not be required.

Businessman John E. Pate, who recently rezoned two lots in the nearby I-10 Commerce Center to accommodate the construction of corporate offices as well as additional space for lease, said he would “never have bought the land” if he had known Asphalt Services’ plans were in the works.

“We’ve all been hurting, and this isn’t going to help one bit,” said Pate, who has invested $250,000 toward construction of the 8,000-square-foot facility.

Neighboring resident Jerry Bouvier said he and his family are “totally against” the rezoning request, and he asked the commission to put economic development concerns aside and “think about the residents.”

Commissioner J.R. Smith cautioned the body to bear in mind that allowing the industrial designation — even with safeguards adopted to limit Asphalt Services’ specific operations — would leave the door open for future developments residents and business owners might find even more offensive.

In the end, only Commissioner Mary Brabner, Mayor Joe Bonner and Renkert voted to recommend the rezoning request.

In light of the decision, City Attorney David Conner advised the commission to postpone consideration of Asphalt Services’ two subsequent requests for creation of a contractor’s storage yard and creation of a concrete processing plant until the City Council makes its decision regarding the rezoning request.

In other business the commission:

The next regular meeting of the Planning Commission will be held at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 14, following  a 6 p.m. work session at the Prodisee Center.

An informal work session will be held at 6 p.m. Dec. 28 in the conference room at City Hall.