Idexx expansion hinges on 'proper zoning'
The CEO of Idexx Laboratories says he is "optimistic" the city of Westbrook will approve zoning changes that will be favorable to his firm's plans for a $50 million expansion of its corporate headquarters at Five Star Industrial Park, which will create 500 new jobs. Pike Industries, meanwhile, said it still wants to operate a quarry nearby, but has backed down on plans for an asphalt plant.
Jonathan Ayers told Mainebiz the expansion "does depend on the city moving forward with the proper zoning."
At a press conference this morning, Idexx officials rolled out their plans, which call for the construction of a multi-story, 200,000-square-foot administrative building. Ayers says Idexx, a biotechnology company that specializes in diagnostic veterinary pet care, has enjoyed strong growth despite the recession and is anticipating even more growth in 2010, which requires the company to build the space needed to accommodate 500 additional jobs.
Westbrook officials continue to work on a compromise to resolve a dispute between Idexx Laboratories and Pike Industries, a paving and construction company. Mayor Colleen Hilton formed a committee to work on this issue in February and its members have already held several meetings.
Idexx has been the leading opponent of Pike's plan to move its rock crushing and asphalt operations from its quarry on Main Street, which is getting too deep and expensive to mine, to its valuable blue-rock quarry in the Five Star Industrial Park -- a move that would put Pike next door to Idexx -- in the industrial park on Spring Street. The city has proposed rezoning the park from industrial to light manufacturing uses, which would effectively shut down the quarry.
Several other businesses in the city and a citizens' group, Westbrook Residents for Environmental Safety & Trust, have also opposed Pike's plans.
Just a few hours after Ayers announced Idexx's plans, Preti Flaherty attorney Anthony Buxton, who represents Pike Industries, said his client will not build an asphalt and concrete plant at the Spring Street quarry, but still run a rock removal and crushing operation that will use the latest technology to minimize impacts on other businesses in the park and the neighborhood.
During his press conference in Preti Flaherty's offices atop One City Center, Buxton said Pike will also agree to reduce its blasting by 20% after the city permitted the company to do up to 25 blasts in 2009.
Buxton says Pike officials will meet with the city committee on Saturday morning to present their proposal. If Westbrook decides to change the park's zoning, Buxton says the city could give Pike Industries contract zoning that would involve very specific requirements for its business and give Pike's neighbors' solid expectations of what the company would do at the Spring Street quarry. "What really matters here is what science and reason can achieve," Buxton says.
According to Ayers, the mayor and city council are very pleased with the company's expansion plans, which were presented to them at Monday night's city council meeting.
"I'm hopeful that we're going to have the city come up with a plan for the park and the businesses in the park that will aid their future growth," Ayers says.
The city council is scheduled to render its final decision regarding zoning changes at the industrial park in May. Ayers says Idexx does have a contingency plan in place to support its expansion if the council does not render a decision that will support the current expansion project, but he would not say what that plan involves.
If the proposed expansion is completed in 2012 as planned, Idexx will employ 2,100 people at its Five Star Industrial Park campus. He says 1,200 people work there now and 400 other employees work out of leased facilities elsewhere in Westbrook. Having all of Idexx's employees under one roof will allow it to be even more innovative, he says. "Innovation is facilitated by having people in close proximity bouncing ideas off each other," Ayers says.
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