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County leaders vote to oppose quarry
By Lynn Hotaling
To applause from more than 100 opponents of a planned rock quarry in Tuckasegee, county leaders voted unanimously Thursday (Aug. 17) to ask state environmental officials not to permit the proposed mining operation.
Tuckasegee residents packed the meeting room to request support from Jackson County commissioners in their quest to block Carolina Boulder and Stone LLC of Franklin’s effort to mine and crush rock in their community. After listening to a half-dozen quarry opponents as well as to representatives of Carolina Boulder, local leaders agreed to ask the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources to deny the company a mining permit.
Speaking against a quarry were Nola Brown, who first brought rumors of the proposed mining operation to commissioners four months ago, and former local school board Chairman Tom Turrentine. The two represented United Neighbors of Tuckasegee, a grassroots organization that was formed in mid-July when landowners adjacent to the proposed quarry site began receiving registered letters announcing that Carolina Boulder had applied for a state mining permit.
“I spoke to you in April about the rumors circulating through Tuckasegee about possible development of the old Junie Hooper property just a little way up Highway 281,” Brown said. “Now those rumors have become reality, and Carolina Boulder and Stone of Franklin has applied to put a mine and crusher in the heart of Tuckasegee.”
Brown said UNOT had gathered 1,500 signatures on petitions opposing a rock quarry in Tuckasegee.
According to Brown, such an operation would change the character of what is now a residential community, and she showed commissioners an aerial photograph of the area to prove her point.
“Thirty-nine residences are located within a quarter mile of the planned mining operation,” she said as she pointed to homes and listed the names of the families who lived in them. “The closest house is less than 100 feet away. If this quarry is permitted, longtime community residents and adjacent landowners – including the Burrells, Milligans, Balcereks, Wilcoxes, Stewarts, Hoopers and Sims – would experience devastating impacts to their way of life, as would all of us who live in the community.”
Brown then reminded commissioners of the provisions of the 2002 Jackson County Industrial Development Ordinance, which prohibits industries like junkyards, mines and asphalt plants from locating within a quarter-mile (1,320 linear feet) of a home, business, school or public building.
“You can plainly see that Carolina Boulder and Stone’s planned operation on what we know as Shelton Mountain would violate that setback provision of the ordinance,” Brown said. “Tuckasegee is a rural, farming community, and most of us living there can trace our roots back for generations. It’s one of the oldest communities in Jackson County.”
She then pointed out that two churches – Tuckasegee Baptist and Tuckasegee Wesleyan – are within sight of the proposed mine.
“Our community is well established,” Brown said. “We don’t need outsiders coming in here, buying up land in established neighborhoods and destroying our environment with something like this proposed quarry. Families living in Tuckasegee want to keep our valley clean and healthy to hand down to our children.”
In closing, Brown asked commissioners to stand behind their 2002 ordinance even if the state grants Carolina Boulder and Stone a permit.
Turrentine told commissioners that both the environment and residents’ health will be adversely impacted if a quarry is allowed in Tuckasegee. Opposing a mining operation there is an “effort to stop irreparable damage,” said Turrentine, who grew up in a mining community and said he had seen the industry’s “devastation” firsthand.
“A few weeks of reclamation can’t replace what nature put there,” he said.
Turrentine then asked commissioners to go on record in opposition to a quarry in Tuckasegee by passing a resolution to that effect and forwarding it to NCDENR officials prior to an Aug. 22 hearing in Sylva.
L.C. Jones of Tuckasegee, who applied for the mining permit on behalf of Carolina Boulder and Stone, was present with two consultants, Terry Kennedy and Rohit Shetty of Geological Resources, a Charlotte-based engineering firm that prepares mining permit applications for companies across the state.
According to Kennedy, North Carolina’s 1971 Mining Act spells out requirements mines must follow and the state inspects such operations periodically to be sure regulations are followed.
Kennedy then outlined the provisions of the act, saying that each mining operation is required to have a sediment and erosion control plan, establish buffer zones and outline a reclamation plan.
When Shetty began another recitation of regulations, he was interrupted by Commissioners’ Chairman Brian McMahan.
“We’re well aware of the state agencies’ review,” McMahan said. “Do you have any pertinent information about this site?”
Kennedy then asked commissioners to table UNOT’s proposed resolution, saying the matter was premature given that NCDENR hadn’t yet issued a permit to Carolina Boulder.
At that point county attorney Paul Holt asked if they were familiar with Jackson County’s ordinance and if they thought Carolina Boulder’s planned operation would meet its requirements.
“We would look into that if the state grants a permit,” Shetty said.
McMahan then called on county planner Linda Cable for an opinion as to whether the county ordinance would allow Carolina Boulder to operate a mine on the site.
“The local ordinance prohibits anything of this type on that site,” she said, adding that she had sent Shetty a letter informing him of that fact.
Commissioner Conrad Burrell addressed the next question to Jones.
“Mr. Jones, if you knew we had an ordinance in place, why are we at this stage now?”
“We’re only going to remove boulders from the site,” Jones said. “The state of North Carolina requires a permit.”
“Is that mining?” asked McMahan.
“It goes on everywhere in Jackson County,” Jones said.
McMahan then turned discussion to UNOT’s proposed resolution opposing the quarry.
Commissioner Joe Cowan moved to adopt it, and Commissioner Roberta Crawford added the second.
Carolina Boulder filed a mining application with NCDENR in early July for a crushed-stone quarry on a 56-acre tract just east of the N.C. 107/N.C. 281 intersection. The parcel is owned by Jim Vander Woude of Franklin, who purchased it in January for some $450,000.
Several other Tuckasegee residents spoke during the public comment period that opens each commissioners meeting. All expressed opposition to the proposed quarry.
T.J. Krueger, who said that as a rafting outfitter he is trying to improve recreational opportunities in the Tuckasegee area, objected to a mining operation based on the potential pollution he said would be generated.
“I’m located downstream from there, and such an operation could ruin the area,” he said.
Margot Wilcox read a statement on behalf of Hugh Thompson that said such an operation shouldn’t be allowed in a residential community. Thompson’s statement also brought up the likely decrease in adjacent property values if a quarry were operating nearby.
Peggy Dawson also mentioned property values in asking commissioners to help block the planned mining operation. She said recent development in the area has been high-end residential, which is much more lucrative in generating property tax revenue for the county than a mining operation that might decrease values in the area.
Tuckasegee resident Pete Brown, who said he had worked in rock quarries, told commissioners of the dust such an operation would generate.
“A rock quarry is not what we need in that area,” he said.
Another resident, Paul Millsaps, brought a carpenter’s square, to illustrate his point about changes to the site if Carolina Boulder is allowed to notch into the hillside. Millsaps also expressed his concern about stormwater run-off and flooding.
“That property has two watersheds coming down to one point,” he said. “What’s going to happen if it washes soft dirt, stumps and everything else into the river? What if it impedes the river?” he asked as McMahan signalled Millsaps’ three minutes were up.
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