No formal action taken on Beaver enterprise zone

By VIRGINIA ROSS

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County commissioners said that, as a board, they haven’t been formally asked to establish a plan that could provide tax breaks to B.J. Alan Co. and other businesses that might want to set up shop in a designated area of Beaver Township off Calla Road.

Commissioners agreed that until they receive an official request, they are not ready to voice their positions on the matter.

“I don’t really know what all the facts are,” Commissioner David Ludt recently said. “When I receive an official request and know all the facts, that’s when I can make a decision.”

The commissioners, along with Beaver Township trustees, confirmed that members of both boards have been approached individually and informally by representatives from the B.J. Alan Co. and the Regional Chamber, of which B.J. Alan is a member, about a plan that would establish an enterprise zone in Beaver — specifically in an area where B.J. Alan has proposed building a fireworks warehouse.

But neither the county nor the township has been approached formally, officials said.

“Right now it’s just too early to say anything,” Commissioner John A. McNally said. “There’s been a lot of speculation, and there are some things, some issues, I would like to have clarified. I don’t want to elaborate on them right now.”

Commissioner Anthony Traficanti also said he hasn’t yet made up his mind on the plan.

Essentially, an enterprise zone is an area that allows for new businesses to receive tax breaks for a designated number of years. Current businesses located in the zone also could qualify for tax relief when they expand or add onto their structures. The tax break would apply only to the new portion of the structure.

In this case, the county commissioners or township trustees may pursue establishing an enterprise zone in Beaver. Officials could then decide whether to seek the chamber’s help in putting the plan into motion.

Meanwhile, earlier this week Ted Lyda, trustee chairman, delivered a letter to the commissioners expressing the township’s concerns about the proposal. In the letter, the trustees revealed they are worried that a tax abatement for new businesses wouldn’t be fair to current businesses that have been paying taxes.

They also revealed their position that it would be up to the county to establish an enterprise zone in Beaver. Lyda said the trustees have no plans to do so.

Lyda said if B.J. Alan presents a formal request to commissioners for tax relief in the township, he hopes the county conducts a public hearing to allow residents to voice their opinions and concerns.

In the past few years, township residents have expressed their opposition to the construction of the proposed warehouse.

B.J. Alan, which owns Phantom Fireworks on Market Street, has proposed building a 360,000-square-foot warehouse off Calla Road, between Market Street and Woodworth Road. The estimated cost of the project is $18 million.

The property, owned by David Diebel of Boardman Steel and Paul Johnson of Adolph Johnson and Son, is in an area zoned industrial, meaning the construction of a warehouse there is permissible under the township’s zoning regulations.

In January 2007, the township zoning appeals board granted B.J. Alan a conditional-use permit to pursue the plan, but the Youngstown-based company hasn’t yet picked up any of the paperwork from the township’s zoning office.

William Weimer, B.J. Alan’s vice president and general counsel, said the company is still working on plans for the warehouse. He confirmed one of the options involves the proposed tax relief plan.