Plans for new Utility Trailer Corp. manufacturing plant south of the Freeport Center has run headlong into concerns about whether it would mix well with nearby commercial and residential areas.
The city's planning commission is looking at the proposal to relocate to the south side of 1700 South, near the Denver and Rio Grande railroad tracks. The company currently manufactures 24 percent of North America's refrigerated semitrailers - the most at any one place in the world.Utility owns 58 acres of vacant land there and wants to develop it into a new, state-of-the-art manufacturing plant to replace its 55-year-old building in the Freeport Center.
The problem is the land on the south side of 1700 South is currently zoned agricultural and is listed in the city's general plan to eventually be a light industrial zone. What Utility Trailer proposes fits more into the parameters of a heavy industrial zone.
City Manager Jack Bippes said the City Council has discussed the proposal and has referred it back to the Planning Commission for further study. He said a light industrial zone, with a special zone overlay, may end up best accommodating Utility Trailer's plans.
The company employs several hundred workers, including 76 Clearfield residents.
Utility Trailer would like to break ground on a new facility in about two years. Company spokesman Steve Smith said if it can't do that, it will be forced to relocate elsewhere - likely in Weber or Box Elder County.
"We want to keep our competitive edge," Smith said. "We'd hate to move."
Noise, outdoor storage and fencing are three issues the council wants the Planning Commission to address.
"I'm kind of opposed to moving manufacturing to the south," Councilman Martin Eliason said. "But I'd hate to lose such a business."
Nearby residential development, like Melanie Acres, is located in the area, and residents are most concerned about an increase in noise and congestion from such a new plant.
"We do have residences over there, and we need to protect them," Councilman Garr Roundy said. However, he stressed he wants to work with the company.
Some vacant commercial land is also proposed in the same area.