The Green Park Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of an amended development plan this month for Heartland Industries LLC to change its parking lot and make employee dropoff and pick-up easier.

Heartland Industries at 9727 Green Park Industrial Drive, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, is an extended employment sheltered workshop that provides contract packaging business services and employs adults with a range of developmental disabilities. The company’s plan adds a curb cut and separate ingress/egress point for its employees who are dropped off and picked up.

“They have a lot of their employees that are dropped off by family and friends and then picked up again,” said City Administrator James Mello. “The second ingress/egress point would facilitate a more circular flow of traffic during those high-volume times rather than a one-way in, one-way out and no real clean way to turn around.”

While the addition would cut into the site’s available parking, most of the parking is not needed.

“The whole point of it is to facilitate the drop-off of the employees that they have and not to facilitate additional parking for employees,” Mello said. “The parking spots aren’t really needed, but the access is.”

The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the amended development plan to the Board of Aldermen, which was scheduled to meet Monday, April 19 — after The Call went to press.