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No new restrictions placed on rezoned properties

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Vic Vifian, who lives near the land newly rezoned for underground mining, spoke at Tuesday night's Board of Adjustments meeting. Many Pattison Sand employees attended in orange and also spoke. (Press photo by Molly Moser)

By Molly Moser

Once again, a meeting on the topic of rezoning 700 acres of land along Great River Road from agricultural to heavy industrial drew dozens of stakeholders to a meeting at the Clayton County office building. It was standing room only on Tuesday, Nov. 15, while the Zoning Board of Adjustments conducted a public hearing as the final step in a year-long process of research, discussion, and controversy. 

A seven-month study conducted by a volunteer committee resulted in a list of 16 recommended restrictions with regard to air and water quality, economics, land use, noise, roads and traffic, emergencies, and the environment. When study committee members Mike Finnegan and Anne Osmundson appeared before the county planning and zoning board in August, the board unanimously passed the rezoning without any restrictions.  

The issue was then taken to the Clayton County Board of Supervisors, who after holding several public hearings passed the rezone in August with five restrictions, including requiring mine vent shaft setbacks of 500 feet from adjoining property lines, requiring mining activities to take place underground, and requiring Pattison Sand to file an emergency plan with county officials, implement well-monitoring and well-protection agreements, and take responsibility for any well damage attributed to mining activity. 

During last Tuesday’s meeting, Board of Adjustments members Sandra Coobs, Gale Severson, Jim Smith and Ronald Sasse questioned whether their role was to alter the restrictions approved by the Board of Supervisors or to add more restrictions. A summary of the mine review study committee’s activities was given by committee members Osmundson and Finnegan, and BOA members had the opportunity to ask questions regarding the list of recommended restrictions the committee produced as well as to ask questions of representatives from Pattison Sand and GZA Geoenvironmental, Inc., a consulting firm providing geotechnical, environmental, water, ecological, and construction management services to a wide array of private and public clients.  

The board then opened a public hearing on the topic, and heard comments from Pattison employees, landowners, neighbors of the mine, and other concerned citizens on both sides of the issue. Attorney Carl Knudtson spoke on behalf of the Say No For Now group, who advocate for delaying the rezone permit until the county completes a new comprehensive plan. Tim Adkins, Pattison's Health and Safety Director, referenced a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study which noted the many non-mine-related sources of airborne crystalline silica.

The public hearing closed shortly after 9 p.m. and the BOA began to discuss their plan of action.

Coobs moved to table the issue for more study, but her motion died for lack of a second. She eventually voted with the other three members present to approve the permit unchanged from the Board of Supervisors meeting. 

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