Even as tensions ran high, a trash hauler in Phillipsburg, N.J., got the green light to operate in the riverside redevelopment area earlier this week. Under an amended town code, LMR Disposal will now be allowed to store empty waste containers and trucks onsite.

Earlier this week, area residents petitioned against allowing the garbage business in town. Residents raised concerns about smell, truck traffic and how a waste disposal company would fit with the community’s plans for future commercial activity.

Lehigh Valley Live has more:

A controversial proposal allowing a trash hauler to continue operating in Phillipsburg's riverside redevelopment area got council's approval Tuesday night, eliciting cheers from some in the packed audience while others shook their heads.

Under the measure, LMR Disposal, which has operated on South Main Street since 2015, will be allowed under the amended town code to store empty waste containers and trucks on site. The locally owned business provides service for residential and commercial customers across northern New Jersey and three counties in Pennsylvania.

There was an organized effort against the ordinance, which continued Tuesday night. A petition gathered more than 160 signatures and a number of residents at the council meeting spoke against allowing the garbage business in town. They worried about smell, truck traffic and how a waste disposal company will fit in an area that Phillipsburg plans to remake into a hub of commercial activity.

Read the full article here.