Lots of people showed up for the Becker County Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday evening.
The red mark shows the general area of the proposed gravel mining operation in Becker County.
DETROIT LAKES, Minn. — After emotional testimony from area residents, the Becker County Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit for a gravel pit in Lake Eunice Township, roughly between Big Pelican Lake and Big Cormorant Lake, not too far from the Pelican Lake Zorbaz.
Prairie Lake Investments LLC, Detroit Lakes, owned by Nick Bowers and Matt Hedstrom, requested the permit for mining operations for the 90-acre site, which is zoned agricultural.
Bowers sits on the Becker County Planning Commission, but did not vote or participate in the discussion, opting instead to sit in the front row with the public.
Monica Douglas, who owns 7.5 acres west of the proposed gravel pit with her husband, told the planning commission she is living with a chronic lung disease.
“A clean area is not just a nice idea for me — it’s essential,” she said.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires caused serious health issues for her last year. “It was scary,” she said.
Douglas said living next to an active gravel pit, with heavy equipment kicking up fine dust and particles into the air, will be much worse.
“Why would you put something like that here, that you know would make people sicker? Kids with asthma, seniors with COPD?” she asked the planning commission. “Please don’t put a gravel pit next to me.”
Mike Smithwick, who owns 15 acres near the gravel pit site, told the planning commission that “everything about this project has been minimized. To have a sitting planning and zoning member be an investor in the company that’s running this? That’s a huge ethics concern.”
About a dozen people spoke in opposition to the project, asking why traffic and environmental impact studies had not been required.
“Why are you going to make our lives miserable for five years”? asked Julie Nelson. “My backyard will be a gravel pit.”
Dave Morinville, president of the Lake Maud Association, presented a petition with over 50 signatures of property owners on Lakes Maud and Eunice, on County Road 22.
“It’s not a very wide road,” he said. “There’s no shoulders. Lots of kids play there in the summer, cars are backing out. Now you’re going to have those gravel trucks in there; it will be very dangerous,” he said.
Torrey Sonnenberg of Sonnenberg Excavating LLC told the planning commission Wednesday that the mining plan calls for excavating an estimated 350,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel (down from the 700,000 cubic yards originally requested) using excavators, bulldozers, loaders and conveyors. About 140,000 cubic yards will be used on site; the rest will be sold.
The five-year plan calls for starting operations each year after spring thaw and ending after fall freeze-up. Hours of operation will be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“This is a temporary project with no known effect on surrounding vacant property for use or development,” according to the written conditional use application. “The property is being excavated and mined to establish a buildable grade on one portion of the property and to provide materials for roads on the property. Once this is established, the project will cease and development will commence that is consistent with the locality.”
Planning commission member Kohl Skalin appeared to strongly favor the project, speaking at length about gravel as a key resource that is lost and can no longer be mined once the land is developed; that the gravel tax is important revenue for Becker County; and that the property owners could excavate and give away the gravel without a conditional use permit, which is only needed for mining and selling it.
He said concerns about gravel trucks and road safety were overblown, saying there are already lots of gravel trucks on Becker County roads and “they aren’t causing fatal accidents every week.”
Planning commission member Craig Hall asked if more neighborhood-friendly hours could be set for gravel-crushing equipment.
Sonnenberg said equipment owners need to run their gravel crushers for 10 or 11 hours when they come to a pit, for the sake of efficiency.
Planning commission member Steve Lindow pushed to at least restrict the excavating work to between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays, but received no support.
“I’m kind of tired of people showing up (at planning commission meetings) and us not taking their concerns into account,” he said. “There’s got to be some limits that would help the people living there.”
Becker County Planning and Zoning Administrator Kyle Vareberg said one recommendation would be to mine the area to the north, closest to the nearest residence, only in the spring and fall months, after Labor Day and before Memorial Day.
The project will start with topsoil being stripped and piled on site “to be used for ongoing reclamation as allowed by the project dynamics,” according to the Mining Operation Plan filed with the Becker County Planning and Zoning Office.
A stormwater plan and a pollution control plan will be established in accordance with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Dust control will be applied to Heimark Avenue in accordance with a road agreement to be worked out with Lake Eunice Township.
In the end, the planning commission approved the conditional use permit, with only Lindow voting “no.”
The request was approved, but the planning commission also directed the planning and zoning administrator to draft conditions and findings of fact consistent with an approval. Those will be considered at a special meeting of the planning commission at 8:30 a.m. June 11.
The Becker County Board will then consider the conditional use permit request at its regular meeting on June 17.