The Ohio EPA issued a construction site stormwater permit April 2 to a CSX Corp. subsidiary as part of the company’s parking lot expansion at the Lordstown Automotive Facility.

It is a project Lordstown’s planning commission unanimously rejected Sept. 8, 2025.

On Monday, Mayor Jackie Woodward said the railroad operates under federal regulations, not village guidelines.

“They’re not subject to Lordstown zoning ordinances,” she said. “However, they do want to, in good faith, come to Lordstown to get approved through their site plan review, the planning commission, and be approved for the permitting process.

“It sounds like they are ready to go forward with this project and come back for the approval for the site plan review.”

Construction of the stormwater system is scheduled to start May 15, according to state paperwork. Workers will divert water on 12.76 acres of land to an unnamed tributary to Duck Creek.

In documents dated June 30, 2025, CSX’s engineering consultant Hanson Professional Services Inc. detailed the expansion, which will take place at 2252 Lyntz Townline Road SW. Almost 1,700 parking spots would be available with the addition of 977 spaces.

The area serves as a drop-off point for vehicles delivered by rail.

“I can confirm that the project is still moving forward,” said Austin Staton, the railroad’s director of media relations, in an email. CSX met with the Village of Lordstown in March to address concerns that were raised in a planning and zoning meeting in September.

“We don’t have any further updates at this time.”

Although an important cog in Valley commerce, the railyard is a constant irritant to residents and travelers motoring through the village. The issues include rail and truck traffic, school bus delays, long vehicle waits and emergency response concerns.

Complaints involving the Lyntz Townline Road property involve lighting, property boundaries, noise and logging.

CSX representatives discussed the matters during the September planning commission hearing.

Kellie Bordner, village planning and zoning administrator, read a statement on behalf of CSX that the expansion would not increase truck traffic, the number of employees, hours of operation or noise levels.

“This expansion is to provide greater flexibility in offloading and loading vehicles by creating additional parking bays for the volume of incoming vehicles,” she continued. “The existing area becomes congested at times since vehicles are hauled away by truck at different rates per day.”

Woodward said the board rejected the site plan because “we felt that some of this stuff needed to be addressed further.”

Rusty Orben, CSX’s director of State Relations-Midwest and a member of the Ohio Rail Development Commission, said issues with lighting and rail traffic were not brought to the company’s attention previously.

“If we’re still having (lighting) issues, I’m not aware of it,” Orben said at the September meeting. “So until we have something brought to us, we can’t really work to address it.

“Let’s have a conversation and figure out if there’s something else we can be doing.”

Orben offered the same observation regarding railroad crossings.

“If you have an issue with crossings, let us know,” he said. “We hold a mitigation card; we don’t hold a solution card. The fact that crossing exists means that at some point a train will be over it.

“Nothing will ever change that.”

A second site plan review hearing between the village planning commission and CSX has not been announced.