By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The St. Lawrence County Planning Board has conditionally approved a site plan for a soybean processing plant in Massena.

St. Lawrence Soyway LLC anticipates opening their plant at the old DPW site on South Main Street and create 35 jobs.

Deputy Planning Director Jason Pfotenhauer said the planning board at their Thursday meeting had “no major concerns” and the Massena Village Planning Board can now vote on the site plan.

“It was approved with conditions. The board talked about a number of things, such buffering, noise, the height of one of the bucket elevators, lighting, additional necessary permitting before project can move,” Pfotenhauer said.

He said planners want to see the soy plant build a solid fence around the property so they don’t bother adjacent residences.

“[The plant] will produce noise, light, dust,” he said. “There’s going to be light so you want to deaden the sound and obstruct some of the view … any type of buffering would be good.”

Pfotenhauer said the county planners were glad to see the village rezoned the plant area to planned industrial development, rather than going after a variance.

“The board was happy the applicant rezoned rather than requesting a use variance,” he said.

Other conditions in the notice of action approving the site plan include:

• adhering to all Village of Massena noise standards;

• the village has to ensure that all height restrictions are met or area variances sought and granted;

• St. Lawrence Soyway must consult with the Massena International Airport and the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure that the height of the bucket elevator will not interfere with air traffic

• A lighting plan, signage plan (if applicable) and all applicable state permits must be secured before final approval is granted

• All plans must adhere to the Village Code requirement that states that “Plans and data to be submitted… shall be prepared by an engineer or architect licensed by the State of New York”