Permitting – February 2014

Township Rejects Permit Proposal
Brighton Township, Mich., rejected a proposal to restart mining at a former gravel pit located at Kensington and Jacoby roads, according to the Livingston Daily.

Township officials said there’s an agreement for the property to be restored, developed and a portion turned into a township park, and they’re not willing to break that deal. However, the developer has stated he believes the agreement has expired, and he’s only willing do to some restoring of the property.

The township board recently reviewed a request from Milford-based Clearwater Development. The company had proposed doubling the size of the lake and mining the site for 12-24 years. A previous agreement also called for the owner to balance the land and make improvements for a future park.

As soon as the developer’s attorney said his client wasn’t going to comply with the joint plan development agreement, the board took a vote. It was a unanimous 7-0 against the proposal.


Lafarge Lands Permit
Officials of Lafarge North America portrayed their company’s Lockport, N.Y., operations as hanging by a thread, as they obtained the city Planning Board’s recommendation for expanding stone quarrying on Hinman Road, according to the Buffalo News.

“In addition to what we have, it’ll give us another year or year and a half of aggregate to stay in business,” said Perry A. Galdenzi, Lafarge’s Western New York manager for aggregates and asphalt.

David C. Chamberlain, a construction company owner and Planning Board member, asked some contentious questions about Lafarge’s plans, but at the end of the meeting, he said, “I’ve been using that stone since 1972, when I started my construction business. This is a necessary part of our economy in Niagara County.”

The company still needs approval from the Common Council for mining on a 15-acre parcel purchased about six years ago from the Murphy family. The company intends to quarry Lockport dolomite from 9.1 acres of that parcel.


Missouri Quarry Plan Under Fire
Opponents of quarrying at an undermined area in Lee’s Summit, Mo., continue to press for the city to stop that plan, according to the Lee’s Summit Journal.

Lee’s Summit businessman Flip Short wants to remove rock remaining in the mine’s roof on his property, selling the limestone while lowering the ground level. The intent is to end with a stable base for development on the site, said Short.

Short contends the small-scale mine will only be open on several acres at a time and won’t be noticeable from the highway. He is in the process of obtaining a state permit through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Opponents question whether his plan is safe, practical or won’t be a nuisance. At the city council’s public comments period at its Jan. 9 meeting, Charles Spencer, a geologist representing some property owners adjacent to the site, again said information regarding the mine conditions is insufficient.


Coldspring Gets Conditional Use Permit
According to the SCTimes, St. Cloud, Minn., authorities will not appeal the Zoning Board of Appeals’ decision to grant a permit for Coldspring, formerly known as Cold Spring Granite. The company wants to expand its quarry in southwest St. Cloud by 3.4 acres.

The permit allows the quarry to expand to 14.4 acres. The permit doesn’t allow any changes to operations at the site but it does allow the company to move quarrying operations in a different direction from the area defined in its former permit.

There were a number of conditions to the permit. One of those defines the area the company can quarry. Another condition requires Coldspring to submit an annual report showing the geographical extent of quarry operations. The company must also install markers at the maximum extent of the quarry pit. Other conditions deal with hours of operations, truck traffic and monitoring groundwater.

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