Lordstown Approves Site Plan for $7M Old Dominion Project

LORDSTOWN, Ohio – Construction of a new terminal for Old Dominion Freight Line in Lordstown could get underway within two months, a representative of the company that would build the terminal said.

The Lordstown Planning Commission gave provisional approval for the site plan for the proposed $7 million project at its meeting Monday night. 

Old Dominion plans to build the proposed 30,422-square-foot building at a 15 1/2-acre site at 7570 Tod Ave. S.W. The building would have 59 available loading docks.    

The freight company, based in Thomasville, N.C., has 237 service centers across the contiguous United States, including a terminal in Girard. 

Lindzi Bishop, civil engineer and pre-construction manager at Furst Construction Co. in Salt Lake City, represented the transportation firm at the meeting. Furst Construction has built other terminals for Old Dominion and would develop the Lordstown terminal if it is approved. The building itself would cost about $4 million.

The company will apply to Trumbull County for a building permit. 

“We hope to get our building permit and start construction within two months,” Bishop said 

The terminal will serve as a dropoff and pickup station for trailers, with no storage on-site. It will operate on three shifts and is expected to get about 40 trucks per day.  

The site offers “great access and works with our operations very well,” Bishop said.

The planning commission conditioned its approval on OKs from the village Board of Public Affairs and village engineers who are working with Furst to resolve minor site issues, as well as on any necessary approvals by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and ongoing oversight by village engineers. 

Any work change orders related to the stormwater management plan would have to go through village engineer for approval, said Kellie Bordner, village planning and zoning administrator.   

Additionally, the planning commission approved four waivers for the project. 

Old Dominion requested three of the waivers: to reduce the loading berth required from 12 feet wide to 11 1/4  feet; widening maximum driveway dimensions to 50 feet from 40 feet to accommodate combined truck and passenger vehicle circulation, and eliminating the landscaping requirement within the parking lot. 

“These are three very minimal waivers. They have done a wonderful job of complying with our code and they have been amazing to work with,” Bordner said. 

Bordner also recommended a waiver, which the commission approved, of the requirement for an earthen barrier at the front of the property along Tod Avenue. 

“This is an industrial area,” she said. In addition, the company has indicated they would be planting trees and bushes “and making that nice along that frontage,” she said. 

“We’re trying to bring jobs here. That’s definitely going to help us out,” Mayor Arno Hill said. Employment at the terminal will start at 50 positions and go up to 60 within five years, he said. 

Bishop could not say Monday night whether Old Dominion planned to maintain its Girard terminal or shift those operations to Lordstown. 

The planning commission voted to recommend to Village Council the rezoning of a 1.59-acre section of United Auto Workers Local 1112’s property at 2821 Salt Springs Road from I-1 Industrial to B-1 General Business.  

The local is in the process of subdividing its property at the former UAW Local 1714 hall, which it acquired when the two unions merged, to create a 6.48-acre parcel to sell to Harvest Point Church. 

Harvest Point, currently at 6100 Tod Ave., is looking to acquire the site to have more worship space, said Arthur Robinson, elder of administration/treasurer of the church. Its current space is 2,500 square feet, compared with the 11,800 square feet the former UAW hall would provide. 

The village now must hold a hearing on the rezoning request, which ultimately must be approved by Village Council. The request would take effect 30 days after council approval. 

Robinson declined to say when he hoped to be able to move into the building. 

“I have a hundred people asking me that every Sunday,” he said. 

Pictured: Lindzi Bishop of Furst Construction Co. discusses Old Dominion’s plans for a terminal in Lordstown with the village’s planning commission.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.