After nine months of contention between Edgewood Development and the neighbors of a planned bituminous concrete plant on King’s Highway, the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals decided to uphold the Planning Board’s decision to approve building plans.

After the Zoning Board rendered its decision on February 9, Edgewood Vice-President of Development Tim Higgins said it was a step forward for the plant.

“We’re very, very pleased with the decision,” Higgins said. “I’ve been doing this for 27 years, and this was definitely one of the most thorough reviews. The board did a good job with all of the information.”

The Zoning Board members ruled that the site-plan review conducted by the Planning Board in May 2011 was valid despite concerns from neighbors over the high noise level, odor and traffic jams that the plant’s large trucks would cause on the site.

In November, attorney Ben Tymann of Mintz Levin in Boston presented the petitioners’ case against the building of the plant to the Zoning Board.

Tymann said the plant violated zoning bylaw section four, which states that no permits will be issued to an industrial building if it proves offensive to nearby residents or decreases their property values.

Higgins told the Zoning Board that the developers intend to build the plant further away from the road and from the nearby properties.

This, he said, will address the concerns of the neighbors.

The decision rendered by the Planning Board in May was based on Edgewood meeting 43 conditions of the site-plan review, Higgins said.

In November, he said they had met all of these conditions.

Tymann argued that having an industrial plant in the area would decrease the property values of the residents by at least 15 percent, based on real estate appraisals.

Higgins said industrial complexes already in the area, such as Shea Concrete Products on the adjacent Cranberry Highway, have not decreased the property values of its neighbors.

The petitioners challenged the Planning Board’s decision in May in the Plymouth County Land Court, but withdrew their case pending the decision of the Zoning Board, according to Town Counsel Blair Bailey.

The petitioners have yet to say if they will challenge the decision of the Zoning Board.

Tymann said the petitioners are considering all of their options before they decide whether or not to file an appeal.

“We are considering that option but we haven’t made any final decisions,” Tymann said. “If we did appeal, because we have multiple abutters, we feel confident the courts would rule in our favor.”

The petitioners have 20 days to appeal the Zoning Board’s decision once the board files its formal, written decision with the Town Clerk’s office.

Tymann said the formal decision should be ready within the week.

“After that, then the clock really starts ticking,” Tymann said. “We would have to make a decision.”

If the petitioners do chose to appeal the decision, the matter could go before either the Land Court or the Superior Court.

Though Edgewood has secured a site-plan review for the plant, the developers need to take the next step and apply for a building permit.

Higgins said Edgewood is waiting on the reaction of the petitioners before they move forward.

“Right now, we are waiting to see if they appeal,” Higgins said. “If they don’t appeal we’ll move forward and work on getting a building permit.”