City decision to reject General Iron permit upheld by appellate court

The city’s decision to deny a Southeast Side metal-shredding business an operating permit because of concerns over air pollution and public health was upheld by a state appellate court Friday.

The relocated and rebranded General Iron scrap metal operation was built and ready to open at East 116th Street along the Calumet River when then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration rejected the permit, citing the potential public health impact from air pollution.

The owner of the business argued that the city didn’t follow its own rules when it made the decision to reject the business permit. The owner, known as General III, was allowed to build its facility because it received a construction permit from the state.

General Iron operated in Lincoln Park for decades even as the neighborhood around it gentrified. Developers, city officials and neighbors who viewed the business as a nuisance pushed for the business to move.

When it was announced that the business would move to Latino-majority East Side, there was an uproar across the Southeast Side. Community, health and environmental advocates mobilized and pressured Lightfoot to deny the permit.

A federal civil rights investigation found that moving the business from a white community and into a Latino neighborhood surrounded by predominantly Black communities was discriminatory.

Reserve Management Group, the majority owner of General III, has argued that the city added a health impact assessment late in the permit-decision process and it was beyond the scope of the application review. It then asked a city administrative law judge to consider whether the business had met its requirements for the permit.

That city judge sided with General III, which prompted Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration to challenge that decision in circuit court.

In August 2024, the circuit court ruled the city acted within its right to deny the permit. The business then appealed that decision to the three-judge Illinois Appellate Court, First District, which has now upheld the permit denial again.

A spokesman for the business couldn’t immediately comment as officials were reviewing the ruling.

A city law department spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.