UNITED STATES-GREEN LIGHT ON MEAT PLANT.
Town planners on Tuesday gave Smithfield Foods Inc. an initial green light to move forward on a proposed $25 million expansion to its North Plant.
The Smithfield Planning Commission approved the preliminary site plan for the project that calls for adding 40,000 square feet of space to the pork processor’s North facility. The plan filed with the town calls for building a new shipping dock, which will free up space to use for operations now being done in the South facility, and building an employee locker-room area.
"We need to do this to make room at the North building," said Frederick Bew, project engineer at Smithfield Foods. The expansion is critical to the company’s plan to transfer about 750 South workers to the North Plant between June and December, when the South facility is scheduled to close.
Of the South’s 1,375 workers, the company has said 1,035 will be offered transfers, either to the North Plant or to company plants in North Carolina. It means an effective loss of 630 jobs locally.
Planners also agreed to waive its required 50-foot construction setback, a move that will keep the new addition aligned with the existing structure along Berry Hill Road. Smithfield will have to provide landscaping and fencing for the new building.
The final plans will have to be approved by the Planning Commission and Smithfield Town Council.
In other business, three residents spoke about the town’s plans to develop Windsor Castle, the historic waterfront farm that once belonged to Smithfield’s founder Arthur Smith IV, into a park. Initial plans for the park include walking and biking trails, a boardwalk leading toward the historic downtown and an area to launch kayaks and canoes.
The town acquired the property last week for $3.8 million, with most of the project being funded with a $5 million gift from Smithfield Foods’ Joseph Luter. The town had to put just $300,000 into the project.
Thus far, Luter paid $3.5 million for the property and has put the remaining $1.5 million into an escrow account to build the park. Luter’s team will oversee construction, a move that allows the project to move forward without having to go through the public red tape required of government construction projects.
Resident Greg Vassilakos said people who live in the Jericho Road community are a little concerned about privacy and security on the walking trails that will wrap around their property. He also called for the bike and equestrian loops to be separated.
"Horses and bikes don’t mix well in my experience," he said. He also supported having Luter oversee the park’s construction, adding that it would probably be done more quickly than if the town did it.
Albert Burckard, a spokesman for the Isle of Wight Historical Society, urged the town to allow his organization to continue its research on the building.
Eventually, he would like to see the home opened for tours.
Planning Director Bill Hopkins said town officials will be assessing the house and barns on the property to check for any improvements essential to keeping the house stable. The town hasn’t decided what will be done with the house, but it will have to meet state guidelines because it’s on a historic easement.
The Planning Commission will have a second public hearing on plans to develop the park.