By Alex Walters
American Capital Investment’s request for the approval of rezoning 34 acres off Highway 48 in Mannford appeared before the Board of County Commissioners at their meeting on Monday. Part of the rezoning from agricultural to industrial would allow them to build an entrance to their facility directly off 48. The current main entrance isn’t suitable for either the company or the residents located behind their facility.
There have been calls of concern about the current entrance point to ACI, which lies in a residential area on the back of the property. The applicant explained they don’t use the entrance by the cemetery, and once built, they’ll mainly use the Highway 48 entrance. “This isn’t ideal for us either,” the applicant said in response to concerns about traffic flow. “It’s hard to tell people how to get there and there’s not enough room.” He added that their current traffic is low, in part due to how difficult it is to access the facility with the existing entrance.
To build the new highway entrance, underground lines have to be moved, and a 30-foot culvert must be fixed, but the company has already begun to alleviate those issues. Once built, the entrance will keep industrial traffic out of the residential area behind ACI, where the roads aren’t built to handle heavy truck traffic. The applicant also hopes it can bring fifteen to twenty jobs over the course of three years to Mannford and surrounding areas.
The request for the rezoning was unanimously approved with the condition that ACI completes the building of the new highway 48 entrance within 6 months, which is double the three-month estimate of completion from the applicant. The request will move forward to the Creek County Board Of Adjustment on August 17th.
