Charlotte Sun (Port Charlotte, FL)

June 7, 2008

City's dirt mine plan needs impact study, attorney says
City official reluctantly continues hearing

The city of Punta Gorda's plan to excavate a dirt mine on a 166-acre future reservoir site was sent back to the drawing board Friday.

City Engineer Mark Gering reluctantly decided to put a halt to a public hearing on the proposal after an attorney for a group of homeowners pointed out that Charlotte County's mining ordinance administrator had waived requirements for an environmental impact study without the authority to grant such a waiver.

The waiver raised a "significant legal issue," said Brad Kelsky, attorney for the Washington Loop Homeowners Against Mining and the Washington Loop Homeowners Preservation Association.

He pointed out there's nothing in the county's excavation ordinance that allows county staffers to grant waivers to either environmental impact studies or traffic impact analyses.

"If we're going to grant exceptions to one, we're going to start making exceptions for everybody, and that would lead to the very thing that land-use ordinances are supposed to protect us against, haphazard land-use decisions," Kelsky said, in comments after the hearing.

Gering ultimately agreed to a continuance of the hearing until after the city conducts the environmental study.

He added that it was "unfortunate" because the "ratepayers will bear that extra cost."

"I think there's lots of gray areas in every ordinance, and yes, I agreed with the county land-development supervisor that (the waiver) was fair," Gering said.

The city's proposal was one of several dirt mine applications that were considered by County Hearing Examiner Kevin Russell Friday.

The others included a 10-year extension excavation permit set to expire in August for a 395-acre mine on Robin Road in the Rotonda area. Brian Stock of Stock Development, which acquired the mine in 2005, also sought an exception to the ordinance to allow the pit to have extra steep walls.

Stock is also considering developing the pit as a marina in the future.

Also heard Friday was a proposal by Williams Road Properties to excavate a 157-acre mine in southeastern Charlotte County.

After hearing testimony from expert witnesses about the specifications of the mines, Russell took them under advisement. He decides the permits within the next three weeks, he said.

Punta Gorda, which currently supplies water from a dam across Shell Creek, plans to develop its site with a reservoir in some 10 years. The city also plans to impound water in Tippan Bay and Long Island Marsh in the headwaters of Shell Creek.

The city is currently working with the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority to build a pipeline to the authority's water plant in DeSoto County. That pipeline would export water from Shell Creek to meet future demands throughout the authority's four-county region.

But Punta Gorda shouldn't have to fulfill the county's requirement for a cumulative impact study because the city's dirt mine would be small compared to other commercial dirt mines, said Barbara Jeffries, county land-development supervisor.

She pointed out Punta Gorda plans to remove only 271,699 cubic yards of soil from a 10-foot-deep pit.

By comparison, the Williams Road proposal calls for 7-million-cubic yards to be excavated from a 40-foot-deep pit.

"(The city's excavation) is, pardon the pun, a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of material moving out of the county," Jeffries said.

Kelsky pointed out the city could have applied for a permit to excavate a utility reservoir -- and that "utility permit" requires no impact studies. But that permit would also not allow the city to export dirt off-site.

Gering said the city plans to sell dirt and use it on city sites.

Kelsky also argued the city's traffic analysis was inadequate. The study showed that the city's mine would generate 12 truck trips per day, less than 2 percent of the 800 truck trips generated by three other active mines in the area.

However, Kelsky said the city's traffic impact study should go further to evaluate the cumulative impact of all the mines combined in the area.

Assistant County Attorney Derek Rooney said the city had the right to demand its proposal be heard even if a legal question had arisen.

Russell, however, warned the city officials they would face a risk that he could reject the proposal.

So Gering opted for the continuance to an unspecified date.

You can e-mail Greg Martin at gmartin@sun-herald.com.

By GREG MARTIN

Staff Writer

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