HomeMy WebLinkAboutPermit 75-07-UI - SEATTLE BARREL COMPANY - INTERPRETATION OF USE75-07-ui
south 143rd place and south 143rd street off interurban
seattle barrel
INTERPRETATION OF USE
March 3, 1975
Seattle Barrel Co.
4716 Airport Way So.
Seattle, Wa. 98108
,Very truly yours,
S,
KS /sjd
Kjell Stoknes
Planning Director
Frank Todd, Mayor •
CITY of TUKWILA
6230 SOUTHCENTER BLVD.
•TUKWI LA, WASHINGTON 98067
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
C
Attention: Adolph or Barnard Sanft
RE: Planning Commission interpretation of Seattle Barrel use in an M -1 zone.
Dear Mr. Sanf t :
The Planning Commission at their regular meeting of February 27, 1975,
did interpret that a barrel recycling facility such as yours would be
an allowed use in an M -1 zone in the City of Tukwila under certain con-
ditions. These conditions were as follows:
1. That all storage areas be surrounded by an 8' high chain link
fence with wooden slats for screening purposes.
•2. That barrels not be stored over 10' in height.
This interpretation by the Planning Commission does make your use an
allowed use in the M-1 zone subject to the above conditions. At such.
time as you apply for a building permit, the drawings should reflect the
above requirements.
If you have any further questions on this matter please contact Gary
Crutchfield at 242 -2177.
Tukwila Planning Commission
City of Tukwila
623 South Center Boulevard
Tukwila, Washington 98067
Gentlemen:
ATB:PM
Enclosure
ARTHUR T. BATEMAN
ATTORNEY AT LAW
5415 4'. AVENUE SOUTH
SEATTLE,WASHINOTON 98108
February 26, 1975
Application of Adolph Sanft and Burnard Sanft
We hand you herewith the documented statement of Adolf Sanft and Burnard
, Sanft in support of their application for your reconsideration of the.
interpretation of use for zoning classification.
Your favorable consideration thereof will be appreciated.
Very truly yours,
Art ur ' Bateman
Attorney for Adolph Sanft
and Burnard Sanft
na,
TELEPHONE
ROCKWELL 2 -3351
C
Mr. Bernie Sanft
N. W. Couperage
7152 - 1st. Avenue South
Seattle, Washington 98108
Dear Mr. Sanft:
Pursuant to our conversation of 17 .January 1975, this office
offers herein the interpretation of use'. as requested and in
relation to N. W. Couperage,
This• office determined the only allowable use under M -1 zoning
would be that of 'salvage processing' shown on the attached
enclosure #1•under (36). As one can see, salvage processing :.
is allowed in an M -1 classification provided the entire opera-
tion is enclosed within a building. Our request of the
Planning Commission was to interpret whether or not the require-
ment that.the 'entire operation' be enclosed included the
anticipated storage inherent in salvage processing.
The Commission did confirm that salvage processing is allowed
in an M -1 district only if the entire operation is enclosed
within a building and that any storage associated with the
operation is considered to be a part of the entire,oPeratia6,1 hence
storage must be enclosed within a building also.
. Should you have any questions or desire any further
information regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to
contact us at 242 -2177.
GC /cs
Enclosure
Frank Todd, Mayor
CITY DF TUKWILA
6230 SOUTHCENTER BLVD.
TUKWI LA, WASHINGTON 98067
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
29 January 1975
Gary Cx ie. d
Assistant Pla ner
;erely,
STATEMENT OF MORRIS HERSHSON, PRESIDENT
NATIONAL BARREL AND DRUM ASSOCIATION
WITH RESPECT TO SUBJECT 72
OF NATIONAL CLASSIFICATION BOARD DOCKET 751
WASHINGTON D.C. - JANUARY 30,1975
My name is Morris Hershson. I am President of the National
Barrel and Drum Association, which has its offices at 1028 Connecticut
Avenue, N. W . , Washington D.C. This Association, which has been in
existence over 25 years, comprises the vast majority of the steel drum
reconditioning industry, by volume, and has over 170 member companies.
This statement is submitted in opposition to the proposals contained
in Subject 72 of Docket 751. The National Barrel and Drum Association
strongly urges disapproval of these proposals.
The steel drum reconditioning industry represents an investment,
in plants and equipment, of over half a billion dollars. There are
several hundred companies in the United States, all in the category of
small business, engaged in the reconditioning of steel drums, and
rendering reconditioning services to the petroleum industry, the chemicals
industry, the paint, varnish and lacquer industry, the food industry (for
such products as lard, shortening, cheese, etc.), and the Armed Services.
It has been estimated that between 40 and 50 million drums are reconditioner
annually, and of this quantity, approximately 50 percent are reconditioned
on a service basis for the industrial owners of the drums. The petroleum
industry, for example, ships its petroleum products in drums, title to
which it retains. The drum is returned empty, sent to a reconditioner
-2,
who cleans and reconditions it, and makes it ready for reuse by its
owner. In this manner, the fillers effect packaging economy by. using
and reusing a drum many times. Any increase in the return freight
charges for the empty container will increase the packaging cost per trip
of the product being sold. It will also endanger the continued use of
reconditioned drums because of the high freight charges for the empty
container. This poses a most serious threat to the drum reconditioning
industry because it affects the reconditioning of perhaps 25 million drums
annually.
Presently, there is a rating differential between used, certificated
drums (Class 70) and used, non - certificated drums (Class 125,Item 52800
NMFC). The Class 70 rating applies when carriers handle the prior
movement of the filled drum. This provision is clearly set forth in the
present classifications. Evidently, carriers felt fully justified in con-
sidering the return movement factor when they established the present
ratings.
The. proposals in Subject 72, although they appear to apply to all
" empty, used drums'; really do not. They only apply to the return
movement of empty, used drums, which were shipped filled in the
samo mode of transportation.
If this proposal is approved, the freight charges for the empty,
returned, used container will be approximately the same as for a new
container of the same size and type. But the shipper of the new container
has given no filled container business to the carrier; whereas the petroleum,
chemical and paint companies give to motor carriers many millions of
drums filled with their products for motor transport. The used container
-3-
freight rate is only permissible under Item 40844. That Item limits the
used rate to the number of empty containers, exactly equal with the number
of filled containers which previously moved in motor carrier freight
service. The carriers, therefore, are receiving tremendous benefits
from the movement of filled containers. Yet they are seeking to charge
a rate to petroleum, chemical and paint companies for the empty, used
container, equal to that of a new container, the movement of which
produces no such benefits to the carrier.
Some years ago, when the certification requirement was first proposed
to this Board, the National Barrel and Drum Association opposed the
imposition of this restriction. We contended then, and contend now,
that the used drum is entitled to a lower freight rate than the new drum.
Historically, it has always had such a lower rate, for obviously sound
reasons; otherwise, the lower rate would never have remained in existence
for so many years. The railroads really initiated the certification
requirement, because they were losing the filled container business
to the motor carriers, and were receiving only the returned, empty
container at the used rate. This was palpably unfair; but when the
railroad certification requirement was approved, the motor carriers,
who were not faced with the same condition, succeeded in obtaining the
same certification requirement. Having captured the filled container
business from the railroads, the motor carriers have been attempting to
remove the advantage of the used rate for the empty return movement.
The economic justification for the present proposal by the carriers
is based, we assume, on the alleged costs of the return movement, as
compared with the income from that movement. We submit that a
consideration of that movement alone is an improper basis for the esta-
blishment of a higher rate for the return of these empty, used drums.
The return movement of empty drums is part of a round -trip movement,
the first part of which is the transport of the filled containers, and the
second part, the return of the empty containers. It is, therefore,
necessary to determine the total round -trip income against the total
round -trip cost before an intelligent and fair evaluation of the pro-
ponent's proposal can be made.
Industrial fillers, their customers who are the emptiers (and,
indirectly, the steel drum reconditioning industry), are entitled, as a
matter of law, to the present Class 70 rating for the return movement of
empty steel drums, unless and until carriers submit evidence, under .
historically recognized principles of classification,
a) why such a class rating should be increased;
b) why a used drum should bear the same freight rate as a new one,
despite the differences in value, in susceptibility to damage, in
damage claims, etc.;
c) why no evidence is adduced by the proponents of the proposals
concerning the round trip rates of filled and empty drums.
The alleged justification for the present proposals in Subject 72
states that "transportation characteristics, as evaluated in the Classi-
fication, do not warrant the continuation of the present classes for used
barrels, drums or kegs, as published in Items 40830 and 40840 ". There
is no evidence of any change in the transportation characteristics of new,
or empty, used containers since these items were placed in the Classi-
fication. The so- called "evaluation" is merely an attempt to circumvent
-4-
-5-
the necessity for producing evidence demonstrating a need for higher
income in the round trip movement.
There is an analogy between this situation and toll booth arrangements
in effect at many bridges and tunnels. At the George Washington Bridge
and the Lincoln Tunnel, for example, the passenger car, instead of being
charged 50 each way, is charged $1.00 for one direction and nothing for
the return direction. What the carriers are doing in the present proposal
is analogous to complaining that they cannot afford the return movement
for nothing, and therefore they wish to charge for the return movement.
But they have already been paid for the return movement in the outgoing
movement; therefore, the need for an increase in the overall $1.00 round
trip movement must be demonstrated before any increase can be granted.
When the Interstate Commerce Commission disapproved the "Density
Rule ", in a decision dated October 27,1970, it stated:
"More importantly, this evidence demonstrates the need
for specific consideration by the Board of the particular
transportation characteristics for classification purposes
of the articles which are transported by motor carriers.
This is the function for which the Board was created. It
has, by its own properly conducted action, shown than
when articles are careful the result is a
classification decision which reflects the individual
specifications of the commodity. The fact that, when
individual consideration is given, the results vary as
greatly as shown by the evidence of record, is con-
vincing that no just and reasonable ratings can result
-6-
from the application of a fixed formula to all commodities
which disregards their particular characteristics. The
attempt to fix ratings by use of the formula in rule 425 is,
in effect, an abandonment of the duty imposed on the re-
spondents, and on the Board as their agent to establish
just and reasonable classifications of property."
"The rule here ih issue does not establish a
classification of property. It establishes a classi-
fication of packages, without regard to the property
of which they consist or which they may contain.
Obviously, under this rule, no possibility exists for
considering the value of the package, its susceptibility
to damage or theft, or any of the other transportation
characteristics which the property may possess."
The proposed increase would have repercussions on such apparently
disparate subjects as waste of national resources, and increased, un-
necessary use of new steel. If drums become uneconomic to return because
of the high freight costs involved, they will be left for scrap in outlying
areas, where no reconditioning facilities are available. This scrapping
of good, reusable products results in waste of iron ore, coal, manganese,
etc. and, most importantly, of energy. Attached to this statement is an
energy study made by economists from the University of Illinois, in which
the author's describe the substantial energy savings effected by drum
reconditioning. The reuse of steel drums is an important element in
reducing the problem of solid waste pollution, insofar as used containers
are concerned. Increasing the freight charges on returned used drums
will substantially affect the economies inherent in reusing drums and will
discourage such reuse, increase the wastage of natural resources, and
increase energy requirements in the making of new steel drums.
We submit that this action will be extremely detrimental to our
industry, that it would seriously affect the filling industries involved,
and would almost immediately result in a higher packaging cost for the
products being shipped in drums. Furthermore, it is an attempt to in-
crease by indirection the freight charges for the products in the filled
movement; Subject 72 of Docket 751 does not mention any item shipped in
drums, yet the effect would be to increase the cost of shipping these items,
or products. The Board should attack that question directly and permit
shippers of these products to present economic data on such shipments;
such increases should not be allowed to slip by without giving the shippers
of these products an opportunity to study the alleged justification.
The increases, both in truckload charges and in minimum weights,
and by way of cancellation of the certification requirement are unreason-
able, preferential, discriminatory and unlawful, and we respectfully
urge the Board to disapprove the proposals contained in Subject 72 of
Docket 751.
NATIONAL BARREL AND DRUM ASSOCIATION
Washington, D.C.
* * * * * *
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LIMN
May,
STOP A
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16-1- UT
1Shi- uI
STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF APPLICATION BY ADOLPH
SANFT AND BURNARD SANFT FOR RECONSIDERATION OF •
INTERPRETATION OF USE FOR ZONING CLASSIFICATION
CONTENTS
1. Subject property
2. Vicinity
3. Nature of applicants' business
4. Argument regarding appropriate zoning classification
1. SUBJECT PROPERTY
(3)
(5)
(a) Legal Description
Lots 20, 21 and 22, and the South one -half of Lots 16, 17, 18 and 19,
in Block 17, Seattle Garden Tracts, situated in King County, Washington.
(See Document No. 1 -- Kroll map)
(b) Ownership
Adolph Sanft and Burnard Sanft are the owners of the subject property
and are the owners of the business hereinafter referred to.
(c) Proposed Use
The owners propose to operate a steel drum renewal p]a;nton the subject.
property.
(d) Proposed Improvements
Presently the subject property is unimproved, essentially level,
"L" shaped.
(See Document No. 1)
The proposed improvements consist of the following:
(1) Building one -story building.
(See plot plan previously submitted)
(2) Fencing. Applicants propose to fence the entire property with
an 8 -foot cyclone fence.
Yard surfacing. Driveways and truck turnaround areas to be
surfaced with asphalt.
(4) An unloading platform, elevated approximately 40 inches above
ground level to be surfaced with concrete, partially enclosed
and roofed.
(See plot plan)
Loading Platform. An elevated loading platform, essentially roofed
and enclosed and constituting a part of the building will be, concrete
surfaced.
(See plot plan)
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I
2. VICINITY
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The applicant's proposed use of the subject property is favorably comparable
to the present uses to which the property in the vicinity is devoted.
(See photographs of nearby properties. Document No. 3 and Document No. 1 - Map)
Applicants' proposed use of the subject property also favorably conforms to the
following type of uses authorized by Zoning Code 18.40.010, to -wit:
( 7) Blacksmith, horseshoeing, or wagon shop
( 8) Body and fender work
( 9) Bottling works
(15) Chemical laboratories
(21) Electroplating
(24) Galvanizing
(27) Laundries
(28) Machine shops
(29) Manufacture of products from aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, steel, tin,
or other metal. . . Manufacture of . . . cement products, including
cement and cinder blocks.
(33) Oil compounding-or :.barreling
(34) Pattern shops
(35) Poultry dressing
(37) Spray painting or paint mixing
(39) Storage in bulk of the following, which does not include salvaged or
waste materials or junk storage or operation; provided the property is
enclosed within a wall or cyclone type fence, at least eight feet in
height:
Asphalt, brick, building material, butane (less than tank car lots),
cement, clay products, coal, . . . fertilizer, . . . fuel, gasoline
(less than tank car lots), . . . grease, . . .liquor, . . . oils, . . .
plaster, propane (less than tank car lots), . . . tar. . .
(46) Welding shops
3. CHARACTER OF APPLICANTS' BUSINESS
Applicants propose to improve the subject property for the purpose of operating
thereon a steel drum renewal or reconditioning business. They have been engaged
in this business successfully for many years in Seattle, Washington, which plant
they intend to continue to operate.
The subject property was acquired by applicants in 1968 for this purpose, at which
time they discussed their proposed use and business with the planning office and
received unequivocal assurance that the activity was within the allowable uses
under existing zoning. More recently, in anticipation of proceeding with their
plant installation, applicants cooperated with the City of Tukwila in supporting
the installation of sewers to serve the subject property and adjacent properties,
to applicants' considerable expense.
4. ARGUMENT REGARDING APPROPRIATE ZONING CLASSIFICATION
(a) There is no conversion or dismantling of the steel drums to produce
any other type of product, scrap or junk.
(b) Applicants' handle only steel drums.
(c) Seventy -five percent or more of the drums belong to applicants'.
customers, who retain ownership thereof. Said drums are in the
custody or possession of applicants only for the renewal or re-
conditioning process.
(d) No drums are handled by applicants which are not suitable for reuse
as steel drums.
(e) Drums received by applicants for renewal are moved into the recondition-
ing process as soon as plant capacity allows and on back to customers
or into warehouse pending delivery.
(f) Applicants' proposed operating plant will not be unsightly and will
not produce any smoke or odorous emissions.
(g) Vehicle traffic developed will be limited to approximately two to
three trucks in and out per day during full operation. Employment
will not exceed 20 persons.
Upon first consideration by the Planning Commission at its meeting on January 23,
1975, the matter was presented as an interpretation of use for a company known as
Northwest Cooperage. This is not the business either owned or operated by applicants.
The Northwest Cooperage Company, contrary to applicants' business, deal in sacks,
cans, paper and fiberboard containers, bottles, scrap metal and a variety of scrap
and salvage materials. This is not the character of the business which applicants
propose to operate as at the Commissions' Planning Meeting concluded that applicants .
proposed use under M -1 zoning was allowable only as (36) salvage processing . . .
It is respectfully submitted that applicants' business is not appropriately
classified as salvage processing. The prime attribute of a salvage activity
is the dismantling, or other activity designed to convert the products handled.
into a different type of use or to extract usable parts thereof and junking of
the remainder. This is true whether the activity involves an automobile salvage
yard, scrap building materials or whatever characteristic of a salvage yard
is the residue of unsightly junk.
Applicants' steel drum renewal business involves no scraping, shredding,
collecting of residue junk, mismantling of product or any similar activity
characteristic of a salvage business.
Applicants in their business receive at their plant only steel drums which
after reconditioning are returned to use intact to their owners as "new" steel
drums.
This particular type of business is substantially a new industry. It is
considered by many to be a manufacturing process. It is appropriate to further
point out that the Classification (33) Oil compouning or barreling would, allow
Standard Oil Company to carry on their business activity as presently conducted
at Richmond Beach, Washington, where that company has a full scale steel drum
reconditioning plant in which it reconditions its own drums. Gaco Western in
Tukwila (See Photograph - Document No. 4) carries on a similar activity involving
compounding and barreling and the reuse of steel drums.
It is submitted, therefore, that the appropriate interpretation of use for
zoning classification of applicants' business would be either or a combination
of the following:
(29) Manufacture of products from steel . . •
(33) Oil compounding or barreling
(39) Storage in bulk of the following, which does not include salvaged or
waste materials or junk storage or operation; provided the property is
enclosed within a wall or cyclone type fence, at least eight feet in
height:
. fuel, gasoline, less than' tank car lots.. . grease.
oils, lime, plaster, and the like.
Respectfully submitted:
Arthur T. Bateman
Attorney for Adolph Sanft
and Burnard Sanft
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