United States Ceramic Tile wants to join East Sparta
By Malcolm Hall
The Canton Repository
EAST SPARTA - This village stands to nearly double in size with the proposed annexation of the 761.8-acre United States Ceramic Tile property from Pike Township.
A petition to have the site annexed into East Sparta was filed Tuesday with Stark County commissioners. The company is seeking annexation to East Sparta to maintain the property as industrial — contrary to what township officials want.
“They approached the village,” Mayor Jacqueline Truax said. “It was their decision. They came to the village and asked if we would be willing to annex them. And we said we would.”
The U.S. Ceramic Tile site at 10233 Sandyville Ave. SE is just south of East Sparta between the village and Tuscarawas County. Company officials reportedly are resisting overtures from Pike Township to rezone some of the site for residential use.
“Twice they have attempted to rezone it, part of the acreage, not all of it,” said attorney William G. Williams, representing U.S. Ceramic Tile. “It is industrial land, and they wanted to rezone it residential.”
PIKE HAS CONCERNS
The township wants to rezone the site to ward off any attempt to create a landfill on the U.S. Ceramic Tile property. The township already is host to Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in the 3600 block of Gracemont Street SW.
Once the U.S. Ceramic Tile site is taken into the village, “hopefully, it will be bought by another company,” Truax said. “There is absolutely no intention to change the zoning. It will remain industrial. The Ceramic Tile company has always in the past been generous with the village. Any time we have asked them for any help of any kind, they have helped. They have given us money to help with the park.”
The park Truax refers to is Sandy Valley Community Park.
“We talked about rezoning it and they told us they weren’t very happy about it,” Pike Township Trustee Lee Strad said.
“Down here we are very sensitive about landfills. One of the stipulations in our zoning is landfills have to be zoned industrial. This has the potential of becoming a landfill if the right people buy it. We thought about rezoning part of it residential.”
Strad’s concern is heightened by what he suspects is hazardous waste on the U.S. Ceramic Tile property.
“Instead of paying to have it transported to a site somewhere else, they will create a hazardous waste dump there on their property,” Strad said. “It will be cheaper for them to make their own landfill and keep it on the property.”
The Canton Repository
EAST SPARTA - This village stands to nearly double in size with the proposed annexation of the 761.8-acre United States Ceramic Tile property from Pike Township.
A petition to have the site annexed into East Sparta was filed Tuesday with Stark County commissioners. The company is seeking annexation to East Sparta to maintain the property as industrial — contrary to what township officials want.
“They approached the village,” Mayor Jacqueline Truax said. “It was their decision. They came to the village and asked if we would be willing to annex them. And we said we would.”
The U.S. Ceramic Tile site at 10233 Sandyville Ave. SE is just south of East Sparta between the village and Tuscarawas County. Company officials reportedly are resisting overtures from Pike Township to rezone some of the site for residential use.
“Twice they have attempted to rezone it, part of the acreage, not all of it,” said attorney William G. Williams, representing U.S. Ceramic Tile. “It is industrial land, and they wanted to rezone it residential.”
PIKE HAS CONCERNS
The township wants to rezone the site to ward off any attempt to create a landfill on the U.S. Ceramic Tile property. The township already is host to Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in the 3600 block of Gracemont Street SW.
Once the U.S. Ceramic Tile site is taken into the village, “hopefully, it will be bought by another company,” Truax said. “There is absolutely no intention to change the zoning. It will remain industrial. The Ceramic Tile company has always in the past been generous with the village. Any time we have asked them for any help of any kind, they have helped. They have given us money to help with the park.”
The park Truax refers to is Sandy Valley Community Park.
“We talked about rezoning it and they told us they weren’t very happy about it,” Pike Township Trustee Lee Strad said.
“Down here we are very sensitive about landfills. One of the stipulations in our zoning is landfills have to be zoned industrial. This has the potential of becoming a landfill if the right people buy it. We thought about rezoning part of it residential.”
Strad’s concern is heightened by what he suspects is hazardous waste on the U.S. Ceramic Tile property.
“Instead of paying to have it transported to a site somewhere else, they will create a hazardous waste dump there on their property,” Strad said. “It will be cheaper for them to make their own landfill and keep it on the property.”
