It’s been vacant for a number of years, but the property to the left of the Citynet building off of Platinum Drive is about to see a new business going into place. On Monday, the Bridgeport Planning Commission gave approval to the site development plan for Johnston Supply.

 

The professional HVAC supplier, who does wholesale only work, will be relocating from the East View section of Harrison County to Bridgeport. The move will involve the construction of a 14,000 square foot facility.

 

“We’re going to utilize this property the best that we can,” said Zachary Assaro, a project manager with the Thrasher Group out of Bridgeport than is handling the project for Johnston Supply.

 

Assaro said that the project will meet all of the city codes necessary to proceed. That will be assured by the Bridgeport Engineering Department, who will review the work and issue the necessary permits as the project moves ahead.

 

Roger Ward, who represented Johnston at the meeting, said the location in East View was a good location. However, the need for more space led the company to look for a new place to do business and the site that was chosen was in Bridgeport.

 

“We’ve expanded three times. This will be our fourth,” said Ward, who said the company will bring 12 employees with them and may add a few additional hires as a result of this expansion. “We found this pieces of property that we thought we could make work and contacted Thrasher. Zach has helped put this together along with (Bridgeport Community Development Director) Randy (Spellman’s) help and some others in the city that have gave us input.”

 

The property, said Ward, includes areas with fill. He said they will be avoiding those areas. As for the business, Ward said they hope to make a bigger impact in Bridgeport, but don’t expect to make an impact on traffic or congestion in the area.

 

“We’re just a commercial wholesale business with very little traffic. You’re looking at maybe 50 to 70 cars a day because it’s all business to business,” said Ward. “You may see a tractor or trailer or two a day, which is what you’re looking at as far as traffic.”

 

The project didn’t need to have the property rezoned. Spellman told the Planning Commission the property was already zoned Business 2, which allow for large scale commercial business activity.

 

“Their intended use is a permitted use in a B-2 zoned district. All utilities are available to the site, but if they go for a new entrance off of Platinum Drive they’ll have to go through the Division of Highways for an entrance permit,” said Spellman. “ … There are no issues from the (city) staff side on this.”

 

Commission member and Council member Robert “Bob” Greer asked Assaro if he was comfortable that all issues involving the property would be able to be addressed as the project moves forward.

 

“You’re comfortable you can deal with the geotechnical issues that aren’t ours to deal with, but are definitely there,” said Greer. “I’ve heard too much about water runoff and impacting stuff downstream from this property.”

 

Assaro said those issues have already been taken into consideration. He said they will be addressed.

 

“It’s nothing we can’t overcome. We’ve done the due diligence … The storm water will go to the pond below and we’ll make sure it is sized appropriately. It may need an upgrade or two, but it will be done,” said Assaro.

 

Ward said after the meeting he’s looking forward to getting started. He said most of their business is done locally with small businesses that have established themselves in the area.

 

Although Ward wasn’t sure of the price, he said the project will be a six-figure project. He, as well as Spellman, said it will likely be in the mid-six figure range.

 

Johnstone Supply is a national company with 400 locations across the United States. Their Web site describes the company as a “one-stop shop, with a variety of options in unitary and specialty equipment, repair and replacement parts, and maintenance supplies for residential, light commercial, refrigeration and facilities maintenance.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Zachary Assaro with the Thrasher Group presenting the project to the Planning Commission, while Johnstone Supply's Roger Ward is shown in the second photo. Council and Planning Commission member Robert "Bob" Greer is shown in the third photo, while the sign on the property is now not needed in the bottom picture..