10/28/2024
Here is a template you can use to send into the Council
Date: October 24, 2024
To: Planning and Development Council
Bannock County
From: Name
Address
Pocatello, Idaho 83202
Subject: Public Hearing Conditional Use Permit (CUP-24-2)
Opposition Comments
I reside at [insert address] and my home is [describe in relation to the proposed quarry] of the proposed sand/gravel pit. [Provide any other details you would like: number of people in your household, farm, garden, horses, etc.]
I opposed the Planning and Development Council (the Council) approving the repackaged conditional use application for parcel RPR3803048300, formerly denied as CUP 23-7, now CUP-24-2 (the application) submitted by John Wilks, on behalf of CRH, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, doing business locally as Idaho Materials & Construction.
1) From Bannock County Ordinance 530 Conditional Uses: A conditional use may be granted to an applicant if the proposed use is otherwise prohibited by the terms of the ordinance, but may be allowed with conditions under specific provisions of the ordinance and when it is not in conflict with the comprehensive plan. The allowance of a conditional use is discretionary with the Planning and Development Council and may be granted only in the best interests of the general public. The Applicant for the conditional use shall bear the burden of proof showing that the proposed use does not conflict with the spirit or purpose of the comprehensive plan of the county and the standards for conditional use permits set forth in this ordinance.
2) Bannock County Ordinance 530.6 Standards for Approving a Conditional Use Permit: Part D, states the Proposed use would be consistent with the goals and policies of the Comprehensive Plan of the County. From the Comprehensive Plan, Bannock County will… “Protect and enhance residents’ quality of life:” The Bannock County Comprehensive Plan shows the parcel zoned agricultural and residential suburban. The Future Zoning Map included in the Comprehensive Plan indicates that the anticipated future zoning trajectory of the parcel is Residential Suburban. Land development patterns in the immediate area continue to grow consistent with the Comprehensive Plan as do zoning changes from Agriculture to Residential. This fundamental inconsistency of the proposal with the Comprehensive Plan’s Future Zoning Map and the development pattern in the area should be cause for denial. This application is not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.
3) Bannock County Ordinance at 530.6 Standards for Approving a Conditional Use Permit, states in Part A, The proposed use would not adversely affect surrounding properties to a materially greater extent than would a permitted use in the district. The current permitted use of the parcel for agricultural use has no effect on the surrounding residential uses. Use of the property for a gravel pit will not have a similar zero effect on existing landowners. A CUP for a gravel pit will result in increased truck traffic, track-out and/or spillage of gravel on the roads in this area, as well as dust and noise that will all affect the quality of life for surrounding landowners and their families.
4) This application is inconsistent with Bannock County Ordinance 530.6 Standards for Approving a Conditional Use Permit, states in Part B, the proposed use would not cause an undue disruption of travel or an extraordinary increase in the volume of traffic in the vicinity of the proposed use. The Applicant proposes adding at least fifty one-way trips of heavy haul trucks on at least one mile of Siphon RD and one mile of Rio Vista RD if those trucks head for the I-86 West Pocatello interchange by Simplot. If heavy haul trucks drive east to the New Day Parkway, the length of Siphon Road impacted will be much greater. Anyone that spends time in this area knows that these roads receive substantial use by pedestrians, cyclists, and equestrians. A traffic study was requested back in 2023 during discussion of CUP-23-7 to look at current use of these roads and the effects of this increased truck traffic on the safety and enjoyment of all road users both motorized and non-motorized. The applicant has provided a Traffic Impact Study as part of this application (in response to Council and residents’
concerns at that time). However, the submitted study is not on point with traffic concerns. Instead, the study is an engineering assessment of the roads’ ability to support the weight of truck traffic and labelled as a traffic study. Because the applicant failed to provide a proper traffic impact study the application should be denied, or at a minimum, no decision should be made until a proper traffic impact study is conducted that counts and characterizes vehicles, motorized and non-motorized, on the roads around the proposed quarry operations and evaluates the safety risks, loss of opportunities and other impacts to the quality of life in the area caused by increased in truck traffic, untarped loads, and gravel on the roadways.
5) The future tax base in Bannock County will be better supported by Residential Suburban than a mined out agricultural parcel that is maintained with an open permit like the applicant’s other quarries in Bannock County. The applicant’s future park concept looks great except that they have no history of closing and reclaiming sites locally for the public benefit.
6) Bannock County Ordinance 580.8 Powers and Duties of the Planning and Development Council, list their duties, specific to this instance, Section 5 should be noted as it states the responsibility, “To promote the health, safety, and general welfare of public;” Despite the Applicant’s comments to the contrary an upwind quarry and increased truck traffic will impact, not promote, the health, safety and general welfare of the nearby residential areas.
7) The definition of Mining in the Bannock County zoning ordinances is as follows: The extraction of sand, gravel, rocks, soil, or other material from the land, and the removal thereof from the site. What a conditional use permit for Mining does not allow is processing, sorting, crushing, etc. of mined material. Is Bannock County prepared to enforce this definition of mining, i.e., simply the extraction and removal of material from this site? Residents are concerned that Bannock County cannot enforce berm landscape requirements and cannot keep the roads reasonably clean around quarries or enforce tarping loads. This application should be dismissed as Bannock County appears to lack the resources to enforce requirements on quarries that negatively impact the quality of life of residents. The burden of pursuing compliance at the quarry will fall to the neighbors, creating another impact to our quality of life.
8) To consider a conditional use request all the criteria in Bannock County Ordinance 530.6 must be met. As stated above, Standards A, B and D are not met by this proposal. Because all the standards cannot be met the application for a conditional use permit must be denied.
Thank you for your consideration of my comments.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
