Asphalt plant planned for Hillsville

HILLSVILLE — A public hearing on a request to rezone property at U.S. 221 and Virginia 668 will come before the Hillsville Town Council and planning commission Monday.
The rezoning request arises from a plan by Jeremy Hendrick to create a new asphalt plant on a portion of the property.
This involves a potential new venture by Hendrick, who also is in business with Nehemiah Engineering.
If granted, the request to rezone the property from general commercial and residential to industrial would be one step in the process of locating an asphalt plant there, Hendrick told The Gazette. The plant would only take up a small portion of the 24-acre property.
“I’ve been looking at the idea for two or three years, having experience with a paving company and previously working in the highway industry for the past 10 years. I understand the need for another local supplier,” he said.
Family members have an involvement with Blue Ridge Paving and Patching, but the asphalt supply company would be a separate effort, Hendrick said. The new company would make another supplier available in Carroll, Grayson, Floyd and Patrick, as he envisions it.
The two existing supply companies in the region provide asphalt first for their own commercial projects, mostly department of transportation work, which can take priority over smaller contractors.
This new firm would provide another option to smaller private paving companies that do mostly residential work, Hendrick said.
If the rezoning is approved, then Hendrick would have to get a site plan approved by the town, he said. The preliminary work could draw out for a year or more, given that he has to obtain the required permits from the Department of Environmental Quality.
It’s not an overnight thing, he stressed. It will take a lot of planning and capital to get this done.
Hendrick expects that the asphalt plant could create three or four jobs initially and have a financial impact by bringing new revenue to the town.
Hendrick has sought an option on the property to allow him to continue to pursue the financing and permitting process.