SOUTHPORT, Fla. (WMBB) — Dozens of Southport residents oppose a new industrial development approved for their neighborhood.
Cement company SRM hopes to build three 167-foot-tall cement silos in Southport and recently received approval for a development order. The area was already zoned for industrial use.
Residents plan to file an appeal on Wednesday.
“It’s devastating to think they would build something like that,” Southport Resident Phyllis Reppen said. “It’s higher than the condominiums we have down near the bridge.”
Residents said the silos would ruin their views and increase air pollution.
“They’re going to load the cement by sucking it up like a vacuum 17 stories and dumping it into a silo,” Southport Resident Jim Slonina said. “A little bit always gets away.”
Air pollution isn’t residents’ only concern.
“I hope that the appeal shows our commissioners how important the residential neighborhood, the quality of our bays and the shellfish harvesting are,” Slonina said. “To a high pollutant industry that wants to come in on a three-acre site and build these monoliths.”