The County Commission voted 5-4 on Wednesday to allow an ethanol transfer facility at the the county's Bonny Oaks Industrial Park.
Officials of Englewood Enterprises still must get approval from the City Council for the project to go forward.
David Norton, assistant city attorney, said the project did not fit into the current covenants for the industrial park. But he said if the commission wanted the project to go forward, the covenants could be amended.
Voting in favor were Fred Skillern, Mitch McClure, Joe Graham, Warren Mackey and Jim Fields.
Opposed were Greg Beck, Chester Bankston, Tim Boyd and Chairman Larry Henry.
Sue Powell of Lake Hills told commission members prior to the vote, "I think what you're doing is wrong. This would not have been allowed under the covenants. This is spot zoning."
John Bridger, executive director of the Regional Planning Agency, said an M-2 special use permit may be devised for consideration by the City Council. The project would not fit at the industrial park under M-1.
Officials said the tract is the last developable one in the industrial park.
Englewood Enterprises is paying Kenco/J.D.K. Real Estate $399,500 for the property that was originally sold by the county for $236,000 to Kenco Group in 1998.
The building planned by Englewood will be less than 40 percent of lot 61, it was stated.
An attorney for Englewood said there will be no storage of ethanol at the site. The process would involve ethanol being offloaded from railroad tank cars into an underground pipeline, which would deliver it to distribution centers on Jersey Pike and then it would be mixed with gasoline.
Company representatives said the proposed center would make a sizable dent in the 4,200 tractor trailers that currently transport ethanol throughout the community – coming and going, loaded and unloaded.