Landfill north of Lexington seeks zone change for 180 acres

The Central Kentucky Landfill could be close to expanding.

Waste Services of the Bluegrass, a Lexington-based waste hauling and disposal service that owns the Scott County Central Kentucky Landfill, has applied for a zone change for about 180 acres next to the landfill.

The land is currently zoned for agricultural use. The request is for a zone change to heavy industrial. The area will primarily be used to create a buffer for the landfill.

The zone change application is the most recent step in a controversial saga surrounding the landfill.

In January, hundreds of people showed up at a public hearing on the proposed landfill expansion. Waste Services of the Bluegrass wanted to increase the waste disposal area to about 75.5 acres from its current area of 46.8 acres. The company also wanted to increase the boundary surrounding the landfill from 102.8 acres to 602 acres.

Many of the concerns included traffic safety on U.S. 25 and possible effects on wildlife.

In a letter to the Georgetown/Scott County Planning Commission, attorneys representing Waste Service of the Bluegrass said that if the land were rezoned, no waste would be stored on the buffer area, that trash trucks would use Interstate 75 to reach the landfill, and that no trash would be accepted from other states.

Currently, the landfill takes trash from numerous Kentucky counties, including Scott and Fayette. The landfill also is permitted to take trash from Ohio and Indiana.

Zoning officials required that the landfill be rezoned before it can expand.

Waste Services appealed the zoning decision, and the appeal went to the Scott County Board of Adjustment. The board agreed with the planning commission in March.

Waste Services of the Bluegrass then sued the board of adjustment.

The lawsuit is pending.

The zone change is on the planning commission’s meeting agenda for Jan. 11. Afterward, Scott County Fiscal Court will have to rule on the zone change.

This story was originally published December 5, 2017 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Landfill north of Lexington seeks zone change for 180 acres."