A temporary housing company in Boston decided Monday that it would not build a 600-man crew camp next to a residential area in Dickinson.
However, Target Logistics President Joe Murphy said it will still look at other locations within city limits.
"We think it would be a good place for a camp, and we think it would be good for the town," Murphy said.
Target Logistics applied for a special use permit from the Dickinson Planning and Zoning Commission. The proposed camp would have been built northwest of the State Avenue and 21st Street West intersection.
Several residents had concerns about the camp being built in the area at a public hearing last week Wednesday. The message residents and the Dickinson Planning and Zoning Commission sent was the city needed man camps, but they should not be near the city.
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"We need Target Logistics, and we need a man camp," Commissioner Jay Elkin said. "The problem I have is that it needs to complement the surrounding area."
Traffic, safety, and dust were the main reasons residents didn't want the man camp near the city. Another fear was that the man camp may have a negative effect on the city if built too close.
"If you have approached Williston or Watford City lately in the daytime, there is a ball of dust that just rests over their communities," Stark Development Corporation Executive Vice President Gaylon Baker said. "We don't want to see that happen here."
After a long discussion, the commission voted unanimously to deny recommending the special use permit. The commission said Target Logistics could ask the City Commission, but Murphy said the company decided it would be best to look for a new location.
"We had a lot of options presented to us from people in Dickinson," Murphy said. "We look forward to working with Stark Development Corporation and the Planning and Zoning Commission to get a more desirable location."
Target Logistics has five crew camps in North Dakota with 2,500 beds. Target Logistics is a premier temporary housing company, Murphy said, adding it wants to be partners with the towns they work in.
"We make it a point to cooperate as much as we can with the towns we live in," Murphy said. "We understand we are guests. When we move on, we want to make sure we leave the towns a better and richer place."
Murphy said he understood why residents were worried about the crew camp. He added Target Logistics would do what it could to address concerns like reducing traffic.
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"We hope that people in Dickinson understand that we want to add something to the community," Murphy said. "A man camp can actually have positive benefits in the long term for the needs of a community like Dickinson."
April Baumgarten is a reporter at he Dickinson Press,
which is owned by Forum Communications co.
