Despite concerns by neighbors over noise and truck traffic, the Cass County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday, approved a recommendation by the County Zoning Commission, to rezone a parcel of land in rural Griswold from General Agricultural, to Light Industrial. Rich Hansen, Cass County Zoning Commissioner, explained the request to rezone the land was made by business owner Kyle Kirchhoff.

Kirchhoff started his business in 2011 in a machine shed on his property. Kirchhoff builds skid loader attachments, grain-hopper loaders for railroad cars, and other specialty items. He built a new addition to expand his business. One of the questions the Zoning Commission asked Kirchhoff, was with regard to traffic flow. Hansen said the gravel road he’s on is a Farm to Market road. Kirchhoff told the Commission trucks bring in one load of steel a week, and three or four partial loads leave the facility each week.

A neighbor to the west was concerned about noise, especially by a fork lift, which has a loud “back-up” alarm. Hansen says Kirchhoff assured the Board that and other such annoyances would be reduced by the move into the new building. A neighbor, who lives very close by, spoke up during the hearing, complaining about the machine and truck noise, along with truck traffic and blocking of the road. He suggested there be restrictions placed on the amount of traffic coming to and from the business.

The neighbor said the property should be termed “Heavy Industrial” instead of “Light Industrial,” because of the weight of equipment running on the road. Rich Hansen said since most of the business is inside the building, it qualifies as Light Industrial. The neighbor also suggested a noise reducing “buffer zone” be placed between the properties. There are a couple of grain bins between the buildings, according to Hansen, but no other buffers have been considered.