Ecocem in new planning dispute over US factory proposal

Irish manufacturer Ecocem’s proposal for a €45 million factory near San Francisco faces a new planning hurdle after a commission ruled the site it has chosen as historically significant.

Ecocem subsidiary Orcem Americas is seeking permission to build a $50 million (€45 million) grinding mill in Vallejo, close to San Francisco, in the group's first venture in the US.

However, the Architectural Heritage and Landmarks Foundation has deemed the old flour mill where Orcem plans to built its factory as "historically significant", creating an extra planning barrier for the Irish company.

According to local media, Vallejo's planning manager, Dina Tasini, said the commission's decision means any proposals for the flour mill must get a certificate of appropriateness before getting approval.

City landmark

The commission is a formal body that is charged with preserving and protecting Vallejo’s historic buildings and architectural heritage.

Following an application from the local Architectural Heritage Foundation, the commission designated the Sperry Flour Mill site, where Orcem wants to build its factory, as a city landmark and placed it on a heritage survey list.

Orcem’s plans already face opposition from locals who argue that they will result in 300 journeys a day by 18-wheel trucks through the proposed factory’s neighbourhood and will boost dust and diesel emissions.

Residents argue the development means that a 40,000-tonne cargo ship will be parked in the city’s bay for six days a week unloading the slag that the plant will use as raw material.

Peter Brooks, president of one opposition group, Fresh Air Vallejo, welcomed the commission's ruling.

“’Vallejo’s past belongs to Vallejo and Vallejo’s future belongs to us too – not to a cement factory that would demolish our historic waterfront buildings,” he said.

Orcem has said truck journeys will be limited and has argued that it exceeded the requirements of local planning regulations by extending the period during which the public could inspect its environmental impact study.