Posted by – Steve Cohen, Director of Community Development

A development application has been submitted by CMP Enterprises to the City of Auburn Hills to permit a concrete and aggregate crushing/recycling operation, along with top soil and sand processing at 415 Collier Road.  A similar business received approval from the City Council to operate at the site over a decade ago.

CMP Enterprises is a third generation business owned by Mark, Paul, and Jeff Bedient.  They currently operate an excavation and grading company called Bedient Construction, which is located at 2573 Leach Road in Rochester Hills.  They are a licensed, insured, and bonded grading and excavating contractor.

The company intends to use the property at 415 Collier Road for screening sand and topsoil and crushing concrete and aggregate to complement their existing business (click here to review additional information).

To be a good neighbor, CMP Enterprises has worked with the City on their site plan for the property.  They have agreed to the City’s hours of operation requirements (Monday through Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. or sunrise to sunset, whichever is less.  No activity will be permitted on Sundays and legal holidays), dust control provisions, and truck weight limitations.  Composting is not proposed as part of the project, nor is it permitted at the site.

Those interested in learning more about this proposal are encouraged to attend the Planning Commission meeting scheduled for Wednesday, June 13th at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall.  A final decision on the application is anticipated by the City Council on Monday, June 25th.

Background on the site:  415 Collier Road is a 15.3-acre site that is zoned I-3, Heavy Industrial district.  A steel drum recycling facility called Great Lakes Container Corporation had operated at the site from approximately 1950 to the late 1980’s.  Past operations at the site involved refurbishing, reconditioning and salvaging 55-gallon steel drums used by industry for the shipping of oil, paint, and petrochemicals; which resulted in the contamination of soil, sediment, and groundwater at the site.  The site was cleaned-up in 2001/2002 to meet industrial standards via oversight by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. 

In October 2006, the City Council granted Michigan Crushing and Recycling approval to operate a concrete and aggregate crushing and recycling operation, with retail landscaping material sales.  That business operated for approximately one year before closing.  In May 2008, another party illegally opened a compost facility at the site.  After attempts to bring the operation into compliance, the City Council took action to close the facility in March 2009.  Other than the removal of compost from the property, the site has remained inactive since that time.