Residents oppose mining operation

Until recently, Michelle and Donald McVey only spent summers on their property north of Athol.

“We would come camp on the property and say one day we’ll be able to afford to put a house on here and retire here,” Michelle McVey said. “It’s our own little piece of paradise.”

That day is here, but McVey says retirement isn’t as relaxing as she hoped. Instead of gardening, she has become an activist, joining neighbors in opposing a proposed gravel mine and rock crushing operation.

They fear the mining would spoil views, drive down property values and bring dust and noise to an area where the loudest sounds come from a train passing miles away and the bleating of a neighbor’s sheep.

David L. Haman of Hayden Lake, is proposing a sand and gravel mine and rock-crushing operation on 160 acres he owns off Anglin-Roberts Road in Bonner County, bordering Kootenai County.

About 70 people attended an August meeting of Bonner County’s Planning and Zoning Commission and about 45 people signed up to speak.

“The people who testified, with the exception of the applicant and his representative, were 100 percent in opposition,” said Bonner County Planning Director Clare Marley.

Though a county planner recommended approving Haman’s application for a conditional-use permit for mining in an area zoned rural residential, the Planning and Zoning Commission has questions.

A hearing was set for Sept. 23, but Haman is asking for more time to research the stability of the soil, how mining could impact the stability of homes perched on the ridge Haman wanted to dig into and the effect on the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer.

Planning commissioners are also asking for a revised site plan, an aerial photo showing the proximity of houses to the property and information about a gas pipeline just east of the site.

Haman couldn’t be reached for comment, but Marley said he’s still interested in moving forward with his proposal.

It’s unlikely his request will be back on the commission’s agenda before 2009.

Neighbors say they were caught off guard when Haman first submitted his request, and shocked that a county planner would recommend approving the permit.

“We’re in an established residential area,” said Sandy Lane, a rancher and real estate agent who lives nearby. “We bought the land with the idea we would be able to ranch and have views.”

In addition to the noise and dust, opponents are concerned about dump trucks driving to and from the quarry, on a road that schoolchildren use to walk to the bus stop. Lane said the road intersects with U.S. Highway 95 on a stretch that’s particularly dangerous.

Even though the project hasn’t been approved, Lane said the possibility of having a mine in the rural neighborhood is already having an impact. She recently showed a couple some property near the site and they backed out once they learned of Haman’s proposal.

She and others have scheduled a community meeting in Athol tonight to share their concerns with the more than 300 property owners who live within a mile of Haman’s property, and anyone else interested in attending.

McVey said she’s frustrated that a request to do mining in an area zoned rural residential even has a possibility of approval.

“It’s beautifully quiet here,” she said. “There are lots of deer and birds and wildlife and the only noise that really intrudes is the train.

“Train sounds have kind of a romantic connotation anyways.”

Reach reporter Taryn Hecker at 818-0054 or by e-mail at