Miami Student

Issue date: 3/11/08 Section: Community

Middletown may soon see new development within its city limits, with the Middletown Development Department planning to recommend that Middletown City Council change current zoning laws to make way for a $300 million development project.

The recommendations will be pitched to the Middletown City Council March 12.

According to Martin Kohler, Middletown's planning director, the proposal would change the zoning of at least a portion of the property from low-density residential zoning to an I2 zone, or general industrial zoning, which allows for all types of manufacturing operations.

"There is a company (SunCoke Energy) looking at this property with a potential development in mind, and the nature and details (that) we don't know a lot about at this time," Kohler said.

SunCoke Energy is a Tennessee-based energy company that operates metallurgical coke plants. It has expressed interest in purchasing this property. Metallurgical coke is used in the production of blast furnace steel.

Middletown considered the re-zoning a few years ago as part of Middletown's Master Plan for job growth, but held off because the school district was considering building a new high school on the property,
Kohler said.

"It is something we have been looking at for a while and when SunCoke expressed an interest in the property, it renewed our interest in getting the zoning changed," Kohler said.

Kohler said Middletown's planning commission will recommend to city council the zoning amendments, with the council having the final say on zone classifications.

Murphy said this is a very substantial project for Middletown and illustrates the importance of AK Steel's Middletown plant since AK Steel could potentially be a large purchaser of the coke.

"SunCoke is obviously considering an investment (in Middletown) because of its proximity to AK Steel and to us that's also a good sign," said Bill Murphy, Middletown's economic development director.

Murphy said the potential relationship between AK Steel and SunCoke could make the Middletown AK Steel plant a valuable asset for the company as a whole.

According to Murphy, AK Steel is Middletown's largest employer and contributes to the city significantly in terms of taxes.

"We are hoping (this brings) more investment in the community, stable jobs, benefits to the school district, benefits to the city (and) benefits to the citizens," Kohler said.

The plant would bring approximately 75 full-time jobs and nearly 500 construction jobs during the 18 month construction period, according to Murphy. Murphy recognizes that it is important to help people understand that metallurgical coke is a new technology and SunCoke is considered a green energy technology by the Canadian government, according to Murphy.

Currently, there are residential homes alongside the property where the potential new plant would be located, however Murphy said that everything will be done to create a buffer between the homes and the plant if city council affirms the decision.

"This is potentially a huge investment for Middletown and certainly we will make sure that we thoroughly investigate the technology and the plant and how it can integrated into the community," Murphy said.

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