Waste transfer facility is permitted use under IZO without special exception

Sullivan, Justice.

600 Land, Inc. is the owner of land in Marion County on which it wants to build a "solid waste transfer station." The County contends that a special exception from the zoning ordinance is required. The land is zoned to permit a "motor truck terminal" to be operated without a special use permit. 600 Land’s proposed use qualifies as a "motor truck terminal" because "[a] terminal may include facilities for the temporary storage of loads prior to transshipment."

Conclusion (slip op. at 10): The judgment of the trial court that 600 Land is required to obtain a special use permit for its transfer station is reversed.

Key Analysis (slip op. at 9): In summary, the term "loads" in the definition of "motor truck terminal" is not limited by the preceding term "goods." The loads of waste to be hauled in and out of 600 Land’s proposed waste transfer station by its collection trucks fit into this common meaning of "loads." 600 Land’s proposed use qualifies as a "motor truck terminal" because "[a] terminal may include facilities for the temporary storage of loads prior to transshipment." 600 Land’s proposed waste transfer station is a permitted use under the IZO without a special exception.

Shepard, C.J., and Dickson and Rucker, JJ., concur.

Boehm, J., dissents with separate opinion in which Dickson J., concurs: "I respectfully dissent. The majority concludes that a waste transfer facility is a "motor truck terminal" requiring no special exception under the applicable zoning ordinance. To reach this conclusion the majority parses various provisions of the governing ordinance and cites a number of rules of statutory construction, but in my view fails to deal with those that are central to this case . . . "