A Carbon County judge has agreed with the Bowmanstown Zoning Hearing Board for its rejection of a solid waste transfer station along Route 248.

President Judge Roger N. Nanovic made the ruling against Duane and Lavona Schleicher, who had appealed the decision of the hearing board.The zoning board rejected the special use request by the Schleichers after a zoning hearing that spanned over six months in 2008: a total of eight hearings between May 21 and Nov. 10. The decision by the board was made on Jan. 14, 2009.The Schleichers appealed the decision a month later.It was proposed by the applicant that a solid waste transfer station be located at the intersection of Route 248 and Lehigh Street. Local residents opposed the concept, which would have had garbage trucks bringing refuse on the site to be transferred to large vehicles for hauling to a landfill.There also would have been a recycling operation and possibly Schleicher would have also started his own trash collection business, according to testimony at the hearing.The area is zoned commercial, which would have provided for a recycling center. It is noted in the decision that clarification was never made if the main use would be recycling or solid waste transfer.Judge Nanovic wrote in his opinion that he was not rejecting the zoning request because of objections from neighbors or because of increased traffic volume.He wrote in his decision, "A special exception is a conditionally permitted use, legislatively allowed where specific standards and conditions detailed in the ordinance are met."He added, "When the specific criteria for a special exception have not been met, as here, the burden never shifts to those opposing the application to show the applicant's proposed use will have an adverse effect on the general public and the board is within its right to deny the requested use."It has not duty, as suggested by the Schleichers, to conditionally approve the application and to provide the applicant an opportunity to correct these deficiencies."Under the Schleichers' proposed use, municipal solid waste would be collected curb side, primarily from residential households, and transported by dump trucks to a building on the property where the contents would be unloaded, combined with other loads, and transferred onto larger trucks for transfer to a landfill.The background in the decision states, "The facility proposed has been designed to process 1,200 tons of garbage a day. Based on these numbers, Robert Cox, the engineer who designed the site layout for the Schleichers, projected that approximately 95 trucks will be entering and leaving the property on a daily basis."This number appears low. A more realistic estimate based on the testimony of Pete Nowlan, a concerned citizen who works for a firm that provides services to waste management facilities and testified in opposition to the application, is a minimum of 150 trucks per day."It is noted in the decision that the zoning requirements of the borough require a secure fence and gates with a minimum height of eight feet."Neither the Schleichers' site plan nor the testimony presented show that the property will be surrounded by the required fencing and gates," states the opinion. It notes that testimony indicated such fencing and gates "will be part of the design. It will either be a fence or the building that will prevent access to the site."Judge Nanovic writes, "This evidence is insufficient to show compliance with the zoning ordinance."It is also noted that the plan submitted by the Schleichers does not meet the requirements of a buffer yard.