Heavy Industry is Incompatible with Ranson’s Comprehensive Plan

By law, any change in zoning needs to align with the comprehensive plan. In Ranson’s current comprehensive plan (2012), the phrase “heavy industry” only appears once. It is in the history section where they characterize it as part of a by gone era that has been replaced by an emphasis on agriculture for local food production, open spaces, and quality-of-life. They use the word “industry” 10 more times to refer generally to businesses like shoe stores and florists, but never refer again to heavy industry or anything that could be construed as such. Under land use it states:

“Encourage manufacturing and assembly-line facilities to locate in Ranson. The City will designate ample land that is well-suited for industrial facilities and will ensure that industrial facilities do not adversely affect the health, safety, or welfare of the community.”

This rezoning fails to ensure that industrial facilities do not adversely affect the health, safety, or welfare of the community. In fact, as listed above, it directly jeopardizes these and should not be allowed.