‘What’s in a name’ is the game in siting big warehouse

Talk about it

Many town of Hudson officials see plenty of tax-base potential in allowing a distribution center to be built on 80-plus acres of land.

The center would be located south of the Nor-Lake property and serve a large local retailer, but first officials must decide exactly what terms the beneficial behemoth should be called — for zoning purposes.

At issue is interpretation of two portions of the code — both under section 105-13 B — that deal with how such facilities are classified and therefore what types of things can and cannot be included as they do business.

An example is that included in the operation is “a significant part is freight.” The board sees a need to define that term and use language about it in the proposal that fits the zoning ordinance.

Board members have said that some things they want to avoid are the center possibly having multiple owners, being small in size with lots of different commercial clients, or having “cross docking with lots of doors but not that much tax base.”

They are clear, however, that unlike some proposals they’ve seen for large businesses, they think this one can be a boon to the community if structured right. And they have little doubt that can be accomplished.

The board wants to choose the right classification so it can be added to the list of permitted uses, by amending the zoning ordinance. Chairman Jeff Johnson says they would rather do this than issue a special exception permit, and he cites lessons learned when they tried this route in the past.

Public hearing

All of this, of course, needs the backing of town residents. The public will get its chance to chime in at a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, July 7. A special Town Board meeting will follow, at which action may be taken.

Board member Tim Foster said that he asked a neighbor about his feelings on having a distribution center next door, and was somewhat surprised when the man said he’d rather have that than a manure-filled farm field.

Other action

In other action, the board: