Fernandina Beach City Attorney Tammi Bach said she is seeking an outside legal opinion on whether RYAM's proposed bioethanol processing plant does not violate restrictions of the city's Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code.
Bach told city commissioners that the law firm of Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Berman, experts in land use, would render an opinion in about 30 days.
Last November, Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) of Fernandina Beach submitted an application to the state for a Bioethanol production plant to be located at its current cellulose production complex.
According to the "air construction permit application" submitted to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection , RYAM is seeking to operate the plant on its current site along with two shift process tanks, one off-spec tank and one product storage tank that would have internal floating roofs. The application states the plant would produce 7.5 million gallons of bioethanol for sale each year. The product storage tank can hold 39,900 gallons.
"There are members of our community that believe that an ethanol plant is a chemical manufacturing processing plant that is not permitted under our heavy industrial uses," Bach said. "My opinion is that it's more complicated than just having ethanol there. I think it's best to send this out, have it written, researched and cited and all that. It will take hours of time and it will be good having someone outside the area weigh in on that based on what our code says."
RYAM has scheduled a public information forum at its 10 Gum St. facility for people to learn more about its proposed bioethanol process addition to its facility. The time is Wednesday, March 6, 4-7 p.m. in the Large Engineering Conference Room.
The City Comprehensive Plan, policy 1.07.12, which deals with industrial zoning, says in part: "… chemical or petroleum manufacturing or refining … shall be prohibited.” RYAM’s complex is zoned industrial, therefore coming under the provisions of this policy.
There are numerous provisions in the Land Development Code prohibiting storing "liquids of hazardous
materials"