Debate over dirt mining focuses on agriculture-related operations
CHARLOTTE COUNTY
Mining representatives and citizen activists here engaged in a heated debate Wednesday as they set out to rewrite laws governing dirt mining. The panel was formed to tighten mining rules after county commissioners raised concerns about a rush of new mine applications.
The group's diverse makeup -- a mix of concerned residents, environmental activists, mine operators, landowners and lawyers -- led to a lively discussion that ranged from protecting endangered animals to protecting the rights of property owners.
Jim Dossett, the county's development review manager, acted as moderator. "Let's try to respect each other's positions," Dossett said at one point. "As important as it is to protect a panther running across the highway, it's also important to have building materials."
Despite their differences, panel members did make some progress. Their debate focused on mine operations related to agriculture. Future meetings will address issues ranging from permit fees to truck traffic and road safety. The panel generally agreed that mines used for farming and water management should have a separate, expedited permitting process.
Farmers also may be exempted from building turn lanes and purchasing truck weigh scales, expenses other mine operators may be asked to bear because of traffic and road maintenance concerns. "Those expenses would probably kill their projects," said Eric DeHaven, who works on irrigation projects for the 16-county Southwest Florida Water Management District.
DeHaven is trying to improve drinking water quality by digging surface water irrigation ponds that wean farmers off contaminant-rich ground water. To make the program more cost effective, farmers apply for a commercial mining permit and sell the dirt for use in construction. Some panel members were concerned about fast tracking the farm projects. They wondered if developers would take advantage of the system by purchasing farm property and using the excavated ponds to add value to their subdivisions.
But DeHaven believes the opposite is true. "With the pressure agriculture faces from a lack of suitable water supplies, if something like this isn't available I think you'll find agriculturalists saying it's easier to sell out," he said, while noting that irrigation ponds account for a small percentage of the 35 pending mine applications.
Those sentiments were reiterated by citrus farmer Wes Brumback, who is working to enlarge and deepen irrigation ponds on his 1,500-acre TRB Groves. Brumback said he expects to spend $300,000 on the project, and likely won't make his money back selling the dirt. "I'm in a loss position," he said. "I'm willing to press on, but at some point I may not be."
The panel will meet twice more before submitting a revised ordinance to the County Commission. The process began after the commissioners rejected a temporary moratorium on new mines.
By ZAC ANDERSON
Pitfalls seen in developer's dirt plan
EAST MANATEE If your house won't sell, how much is your dirt worth?
A local developer plans to find out with his proposed borrow pit, a soil excavating project on 250 acres on the south side of State Road 70, just east of Verna Road.
The project has Albert Myara's neighbors in nearby Saddlebag Creek Ranches, Golden Verna Estates, Greenbrook and Panther Ridge angry about the hundreds of dump trucks that are expected to leave his borrow pit in two or three months filled with dirt, rumbling on a two-lane road shared by school buses.
Besides the increased risk of traffic accidents, neighbors are concerned about their water supply being contaminated by the digging, noise from the trucks and the fate of a bald eagle on Myara's land, which extends south to the Magnolia Hills subdivision.
"I would like to see the project stopped or everyone in this area better informed about it," said Richard Apati, a resident of Saddlebag Creek Ranches. "He will be approved for up to 450 trucks a day for the next five years," Apati added of Myara. "That's a 75,000-pound truck every minute. We have estimated that we have 2,500 students riding school buses on State Road 70 every school day. We have 19 buses making 482 stops all along State Road 70."
Myara, who has developed property in Lakewood Ranch, came up with an idea to sell the dirt he planned to dig out of his property for a lake. In these bad times, Myara is not alone, said Erika Barrett, the Manatee County planner who recommended Myara's project for approval because it met all the county requirements. "I have a lot of borrow pits under review," Barrett said Tuesday. "You see this often when there is a slowdown in the market. People with land still have mortgage payments. Getting a borrow pit approved is a way to get some return on their investment while the market adjusts."
In the past six months, Barrett has seen 10 different borrow pit cases, more than she sees in three years, she said. Borrow pits are not allowed in residential areas but are allowed on land zoned agricultural, mining, light and heavy manufacturing and in certain village areas, like Parrish and Myakka City, Barrett said. "We consider them temporary use," Barrett said. "Once the borrow pit is dug, they must reclaim the area, usually with a lake."
Myara bought the land in 2005 for just less than $25 million and had hoped to build 146 homes, at about $1 million each, around a community called Lake St. Clair. Then the market nose-dived. Myara hopes to start digging in two to three months and plans to dig 30 feet deep in some spots. There is so much water on the property that the lake will create itself as he digs, he said.
"If the market comes back in two years, we will build the homes and finish the lake whatever size it is," Myara said. "Our ultimate goal is to have a subdivision here." Myara built Courtyard at Market Square behind the Walgreens in Lakewood Ranch, Sondra Guffey, a Schroeder-Manatee Ranch spokeswoman, said Tuesday.
Myara and Apati talked Tuesday in front of Myara's property. "After 4 p.m. the trucks won't run," Myara told Apati. "But they will be running in the morning when kids are going to school," Apati countered. "Our first buses are leaving at 6:56 a.m." Myara said there is nothing he could do about that. "A traffic study was done by an independent agency, and it was approved by the county," Myara said.
Barrett confirmed that Myara had to submit a traffic study that the county's traffic consultants reviewed. "The traffic generated on S.R. 70 was apparently not an issue when our consultant looked at the overall traffic on S.R. 70," Barrett said.
Myara also told Apati that no water will seep off site, that he has solved the eagle problem by not digging near the nest and that wells are being monitored for contamination. The developer said he doesn't expect residents to hear much of anything from his property. Apati and others are mostly upset that they didn't have much warning about Myara's project. A small public notice sign on the land indicated there was to be a public hearing Sept. 26.
"At the meeting on Sept. 26, there was no mention of homes," Saddlebag Creek Ranches resident Ron Edwards said. "Our fear is that the owner is just going to dig a borrow pit and nothing will ever be developed from it. We are concerned how fast this went through. It seems to lack integrity." Apati was one of several residents who spoke at the public hearing. Two days later, Manatee County Hearing Officer John Roe submitted a "notice of intent to approve" the project, and he now will have 21 days to send in a final approval, which is what usually happens, Barrett said.
In his report, Roe wrote: "The proposed earth-moving operations are temporary in nature and will ultimately result in the creation of a large lake on this site once reclamation is completed." Roe also wrote that there is possibly a bald eagle located within the project area and that Myara would have to provide an updated study if he tried to operate within 1,000 feet of the nest of the bald eagle. "We have not seen a nest," Myara said. "But the requirement is no problem."
By RICHARD DYMOND
rdymond@bradenton.com