Plan Board Issues CUP for Mining Operation - The Missourian

Meramec Aggregates was awarded a conditional use permit Tuesday night with just nine of the 11 proposed conditions.

After much debate, the Franklin County Planning and Zoning Commission opted to discard two proposed restrictions on the mining company’s permit.

The CUP allows Meramec Aggregates to operate at a site located at 102/109 River Cabin Road on the south side of the intersection of Mill Hill Road and Cove Creek Road near St. Clair. The property is located just across the river from a site on Ely Road that was awarded a CUP earlier this year.

Opponents of the permit were disappointed by the commission removing the two restrictions. Nick Norman, representing Citizens for the Preservation for the Meramec River, said his group intends to appeal the plan board’s decision.

The group also appealed the CUP for the Ely Road site. In October the Board of Zoning Adjustment upheld that permit.

Conditions

After the opponents raised several issues at the plan board’s November meeting, the permit request was sent to the commission’s review committee.

The review committee met with Lyn Havin, president of Meramec Aggregates, and came up with 11 proposed conditions.

Most of the conditions were standard for the county — any buildings built on the site need a permit, all entrances need to be reviewed by the highway department and the applicant must comply with all federal and state regulations.

The board agreed with the first eight, but some members had issues with proposed conditions 9, 10 and 11.

Condition 9 stated no retail sales could take place at the location. Condition 10 limited the operation to only allow Havin -owned or -operated trucks to access the site. Condition 11 called for the operation to be shut down from Dec. 1 to the end of February.

Commission Chairman Bill Evans said the three conditions were put in place by the review commission in an effort to address traffic concerns raised by the opponents. The idea was, that without sales and outside trucks with drivers unfamiliar with the area, there would be less traffic and better truck drivers.

Closing the operation in the winter months was intended to prevent trucks from driving during poor weather. Lyn Havin said at the review committee meeting that the plant traditionally closes at the first freeze and doesn’t reopen until temperatures warm up.

Commissioner Todd Boland opposed the conditions. He said by not allowing sales, Havin would have to haul the material out of the site to its other location on Highway 30 which wouldn’t cut down on traffic.

Boland also said closing the plant during the winter by the permit didn’t make sense when Havin would do it on her own. He said Franklin County could have a warm winter that would allow her to stay open, but the permit would eliminate that option.

Boland motioned to approve the CUP without the final three conditions. The board split into a 5-5 tie with Boland, Tim Reinhold, Ray Cunio, Tom Tobben and Stanley Voss voting in favor. Evans, Bill McLaren, Dan Haire, Russell McCreary and Ron Williams voting against removing the conditions.

Commissioner Jay Schultehenrich was absent from the meeting.

With the tie, the board continued to discuss the three conditions. The board went through and weighed the pros and cons of each of the conditions.

After more discussion, McLaren pushed for eliminating the sales restriction and the operations restriction. The only condition he favored keeping was limiting the trucks on site to just those belonging to Havin.

He said if the only trucks coming in or out are Havin’s trucks, she would make sure they follow the rules of the road. He said any problems would be traced back to Havin and she wouldn’t risk losing her permit.

By putting all the vehicles in Havin’s name, McLaren said he’d be OK with sales and with allowing the plant to operate during the winter months.

The board voted again, only this time it was for the eight conditions plus condition No. 10. Left off the motion was the restriction on sales and winter hours.

Only McLaren flipped his vote. By a 6-4 margin, the CUP passed with nine conditions.

After the meeting, Norman said he was disappointed to see two of three restrictions removed.

“Citizens for the Preservation for the Meramec River was pleased to see the commissioners acknowledge the dangers of this proposed mine,” Norman said in a statement. “Adding the three conditions would have put many of our worries to rest, however, we are disappointed that some of the commissioners decided to take away two of the three conditions. Taking away those conditions puts more people at risk and only benefits Havin. We wish the commissioners would have imposed the conditions Havin came up with and agreed to follow during the review committee meeting.”

Norman and the Citizens have 90 days to appeal the board’s decision.