LAWTON – The Comanche County Industrial Development Authority is considering selling property north of the SW Rail Industrial Park to Firehawk Aerospace, which wants to build a rocket fuel manufacturing plant on the site, but the authority hasn’t taken that step yet.
The authority discussed the issue in an executive session Aug. 19 but did not take action following the executive session.
Firehawk, which uses 3D-printed solid rocket fuel to produce hybrid engines, is planning to invest $22 million in machinery and equipment to outfit a $23 million manufacturing plant in Lawton. The plant would be located nor th of the SW Rail Industrial Park on a 320-acre site, which belongs to CCIDA.
The plant would occupy 160 acres of the site, and the rest of the property would remain vacant.
The site is currently zoned as a general agricultural district (A-1), Southwest Ledger reported in July. But officials with Firehawk and the Lawton Economic Development Authority have proposed designating a 1,000-foot-wide strip along the western edge as a restricted manufacturing and warehouse district, or I-1, which is the most r estrictive industrial classification.
That section of the property is closest to the Pecan Valley South housing addition, which is directly west of the Firehawk site.
Under the proposal, another 1,000-foot-wide strip on the property’s northern edge would be rezoned as a light industrial district, or I-3. The rest of the site would be classified as a heavy industrial district, or I-4.
The final decision on rezoning the site rests with the Lawton City Council, which directed staff in June to proceed with an administrative zoning for the site as I-4.