RICHLAND (WKZO-AM) — After hearing hours of testimony from citizens against a proposal for a Gravel Pit near M-89 and C Avenue, the Richland Township Planning Commission has now laid out a set of goals and issues for the commission and the applicants to tackle.
If they have satisfactory compromises and answers at the end, the developers may get their permit.
Dozens of residents have expressed their strong opposition at each of four public hearings held over the last few months. They had to move the latest meeting to a school gym to provide enough seating.
Top Grade Site Management of Grand Rapids have partnered with the property owner, Liberty Farms LLC to propose that 23 acres of farm land be mined for sand and gravel. They want to peel back the top soil and the clay and harvest the rock and sand below for gravel.
They would either process it at the spot or haul it away in huge double-bottom tractor trailer rigs to cement plants or road construction projects. The clay and topsoil would then be placed back over the depression left in the ground and the land returned to farming.
During public comment, citizens complained about the noise, the dust, the heavy trucks rolling through their rural area, fear they might contaminate the water table or rupture a nearby landfill. They also expressed concerns that their property values might be damaged by having the mining operation nearby.
It was proposed by Chairman Nick Westra that the commission hold a series of meetings to go over the issues that residents have expressed as possible problems.
They want to to be satisfied that road safety, the environment, property values, health and quality of life will all be protected and review a detailed plan on how the land will be restored. They may also want to visit some of the company’s other operations to see how much noise and dust is generated.
They may require test wells, economic and environmental impact statements and other studies, which may take months to research and several more hearings before there will be a final decision, and they may still deny it.
The commission approved that work plan on a unanimous vote.
Homeowners successfully defeated a proposal for a similar but larger gravel mining operation in that area ten years ago, but State Law has changed since then, making it easier for operators to overcome local opposition.
