Commission backs permit for manufacturer’s expansion plans

The expansion of a nasal-swab manufacturing facility in Grafton has gotten a go-ahead from the village’s Plan Commission after the business agreed to adjust its request for a conditional-use permit to better accommodate neighbors.

The commission on Aug. 14 unanimously recommended that the Village Board approve the permit.

If the permit is approved by the board, the Young Innovations Inc. operation will grow from 14,000 square feet to 28,450 square feet in the northern half of a building at 550 Beech St. that also houses Grafton Self-Storage.

Several neighbors objected to the expansion during a July 27 Plan Commission meeting, citing issues with current facility operations, including delivery vehicles blocking roads and frequent noise from employees.

 While the building borders residential areas, it is zoned for industrial use.     

At that meeting, the commission tabled consideration of the permit request to create additional provisions that would address neighbor concerns.

During the public hearing portion of the  Aug. 14 commission meeting, three neighbors of the facility voiced opposition again.

Brad Josephitis said there have been multiple occasions where semi-trucks delivering goods to the facility have used his driveway to back into the loading dock at the north end of the building.

“I continually have to monitor this and wonder if there is going to be an inexperienced driver who’s going to end up on my lawn again or utilize my driveway again,” he said.

Neighbor Michelle Borchardt said she has experienced issues with employees making noise during shift changes.

She recounted one experience in which she had to cancel a video conference call due to loud music coming from an employee’s vehicle in the facility parking lot.

Borchardt said that three of four residents with driveways bordering the north side of the facility were present at the meeting with complaints about operations, and that the fourth was not present because they are an older couple.

Several Young Innovations representatives were present at the meeting, including John Baeten, the corporation’s director of business process optimization.

Baeten said the company has worked with the village on addressing delivery issues that will be enforceable through the permit.

“We’re trying to do everything we can to make this not be a loss for the residents,” he said.

Conditions of the permit include limiting the number of people in the facility to 24 employees and six visitors on site at any time, restricting parking on Bridge Street and restricting some delivery operations.

The permit mandates that Young Innovations use box trucks for deliveries when available, use a limited subset of drivers to ensure consistency and quality in collections and to develop detailed instructions to ensure drivers are consistent with how they enter and exit the area.

Additionally, semi-truck shipments must be limited to one per day between the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Box truck deliveries will be allowed between 8:30 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Before voting on the recommendation, commission member Heidi Ham had an additional condition placed on the permit that requires Young Innovations to investigate any noise complaints submitted to the village within 48 hours.

“It must have been pretty loud to disturb a call,” she said.

Young Innovations Inc. first opened the facility in October 2020 to produce nasal swabs used in Covid-19 tests.

With tests in high demand, Young Innovations executives sought to expand operations before constructing an addition to the main location at 1376 Cheyenne Ave. in Grafton and relocating operations there in one or two years.