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Beleaguered by existing noise and air pollution, residents of Cedar Heights, Cheverly and Fairmount Heights plan to appeal a Prince George's County Circuit Court decision that paves the way for building a new concrete batching plant in a nearby industrial park.

On Jan. 29, County Circuit Court Judge Thomas P. Smith upheld the District Council's November 2008 approval of a special exception for Landover-based American Resource Management Group Inc. to build a concrete batching plant on six acres of land in an industrial park in the 5800 block of Sheriff Road. The same road borders Cedar Heights and Fairmount Heights neighborhoods. A concrete batching plant is a facility that mixes concrete that can then be picked up and delivered to a construction site or other location.

Area residents petitioned against the District Council's approval of the special exception, arguing that the District Council failed to realize the cumulative effects of adding another industry, that there was no significant health study completed about the residents' existing upper-respiratory infections and that the neighborhoods that would be affected were not clearly defined, according to court documents.

Smith said the county's health department could not establish a direct connection between the existing industries and any dust-related illnesses and cannot know the impact of the proposed building because it does not yet exist. The industrial park already contains industries such as Aggregate and Dirt Solutions, Brandywine Sand and Gravel and the Lafarge Blacktop Plant.

"It is evident that existing problems have no relation to the proposal, because the plant hasn't been built yet," Smith said.

Residents plan to appeal the decision to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, said Jane Barrett, an attorney with the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic who is representing the residents. Barrett said it depends on the Court of Special Appeals scheduling process as to how soon they will take a trip back to court.

"The critical issue that we don't think has been addressed is how the District Council should consider whether and how they take into account existing conditions at a site and existing impacts on a community when looking at potential for additional growth and development," Barrett said.

Thomas Haller, a Largo-based attorney representing American Resource Management Group, said he could not give a specific timeframe for how soon the concrete plant could be built and said the process was delayed because of the residents' petition. He said any permitting would take the rest of the year to finalize.

"We're obviously pleased with the court's decision," Haller said. "In terms of when anything will transpire, we'll have to wait and see."

Cedar Heights resident Thurman Jones said he knows that Charles Gallion, one of the original petitioners and former Cedar Heights Civic Association president who died in March 2008, would be proud despite the Jan. 29 outcome. Jones said he believes the case will "ripple across the county and state" as a notable land-use case.

"The game isn't over," Jones said. "The game is on. The game is on."

E-mail Natalie McGill at nmcgill@gazette.net.