One trucking company's plans to build a trucking terminal in the metro Atlanta area are coming up against pretty stiff opposition from area residents and a planning and zoning commission.

According to The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, AAA Cooper Transportation wants to build a terminal on a vacant 27-acre site in Buford on the north side of the city. During a meeting of the Buford Planning Commission this week, dozens of protesting residents showed up. Some carried signs that read "Say No to AAA," "AAA carries hazardous materials," and "Save our neighborhood." After the standing-room-only crowd made its feelings clear, the Planning Commission unanimously recommended denial of AAA Cooper's special-use application.
The property is zoned for light industrial use, but the city requires a special-use permit for a trucking terminal. Despite the setback, AAA Cooper is going ahead with plans to seek approval from the Buford City Commission, which is scheduled to hear the application Tuesday evening. The City Commission has rarely gone against the planning panel's recommendation, City Commission chairman Phillip Beard told the paper. However, he noted that property owners "have some rights."
AAA Cooper has operated a terminal on the south side of Atlanta for more than 10 years, according to the paper, and has been looking for a north metro location for more than two years.
The site can accommodate about 150 truck bays, but the company hopes to start out with 100 to 120.
Residents expressed concerns that hazardous materials could spill or leak from the trucks and contaminate nearby Lake Lanier. Other concerns were increased truck traffic, pollution and lowered property values.
"I don't see how we could have any impact on the neighborhood, in terms of congestion, or on Lake Lanier," Allen Cooper, general manager of the south Atlanta facility, told the paper.