SHERMAN, Texas (KXII) - Several residents brought their concerns to the Sherman Planning & Zoning Commission Tuesday night over a proposed temporary concrete batch plant near their homes.

“I am extremely against it, and I will speak for my neighbors, who are not here today, they will all be 100 percent against this as well.”

One by one, Sherman residents voiced their disapproval of GOW’s request for a temporary zoning permit that would allow a concreate batch plant to operate near their homes in the 200 block of South FM 1417 between W. Houston and Center streets.

A representative for GOW said, “If you give us a 2 week permit to run the plant and get it out, we can easily do that.”

However, Sherman resident Tara La Roche doesn’t want her two small children exposed to potential pollutants sometimes associated with batch plants. The particulate matter can penetrate deep into the lungs.

La Roche said she fears even one day could be too long.

“There’s no ongoing monitoring that occurs, so there’s no telling what’s released, how much is released because nobody knows. So whether it’s a day, a month, 6 months, its still going to be a known health issue.”

Despite the contractor’s promise to be in and out quickly, La Roche was skeptical.

“This developer is kind of already shown that they’re not a great neighbor. The re-grading of the lots back there has caused numerous issues, one of my neighbor’s homes has flooded due to the re-grading of the lots and so we don’t really have a lot of trust.”

After hearing residents concerns, commission members made a new motion.

In the end, commissioners approved an alternative plan to move the batch plant to a different residential area nearby.

“You’ve just moved the problem. It’s still a problem. It’s still a concreate batch plant,” La Roche said. “You’ve now just moved it to where it maybe is not affecting this set of neighbors, but it’s going to affect another set of neighbors.”

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