County Recommends Delaying Gravel Pit Hearing Public Works Director Wants More Notices About Meeting Sent To Neighbors

Saying they may not have met state notification laws, Spokane County officials have recommended postponing a hearing about expanding a gravel pit in Green Bluff.

The hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today as part of the county hearing examiner meeting.

Since 1986, the county has operated a gravel pit east of Sands Road, said Don Shultz, manager of materials and resources. It covers six of 33 acres and can’t be expanded much on that land because the ground is unsuitable for mining, he said.

The county occasionally hires a contractor to dig rock and crush it into gravel, keeping a stockpile for use on roads in the area.

Now, the county wants to buy an adjacent 100 acres, about 20 acres of which has basalt rock suitable for mining and crushing into gravel. The county has an option to buy that land from Beverly and Claude Forkner.

Hearing Examiner Mike Dempsey must decide whether to grant the county engineering department’s request that the land be rezoned for mining, rather than agriculture.

Twenty-seven neighbors have written protests to the zone change. They are concerned about dust, noise and other environmental impacts.

A leading opponent, neighbor Robert Salnick, contends the county hasn’t conducted proper environmental reviews.

Public Works Director Dennis Scott said the county failed to send notices about the hearing to landowners in a broad-enough area surrounding the gravel pit. He recommended that Dempsey postpone the hearing until more notices are mailed.

The hearing will be postponed if opponents don’t object, said Dempsey, adding that an attorney representing opponents couldn’t be reached by telephone Tuesday afternoon.

, DataTimes