Gravel group adopts proposed rules

 By Michael Tucker, staff writer

Regs include county-wide zoning provision



After a year-and-a-half of early-morning meetings, the gravel pit task force this week completed its work and unanimously voted in favor of a document that could govern gravel-mining operations throughout Gallatin County.

But the group was divided as to how that issue would be administered.

The county commission created the task force during the 2008 gravel debates that erupted over several new and expanding mining operations around the Gallatin Valley. The scuffle ended with the commission adopting emergency interim zoning regulations that govern pits through a conditional use permitting process that terminates next May.

During the interim, the task force was charged with finding a long-term solution to the contentious issue. The group is made up of three industry representatives, three residents who live near gravel operations and three planning board members representing Belgrade, Manhattan and the county.

Overall, the document produced by the task force is similar to the current interim regulations. But there are some minor changes, such as definitions, compliance issues, and allowing operators to expand their county-sanctioned permitted area, Belgrade Associate Planner Heidi Jensen said.

The task force unanimously voted in favor of the document.

'It's not a bad document, but it depends on where it goes,' TMC, Inc., co-owner Ron Pike said.

What gives the gravel industry heartburn is the same dish many large landowners have difficulty digesting ' countywide zoning.

After consulting with County Attorney Marty Lambert, task force chairman Don Seifert said the most defensible way the county can enforce the regulation is through zoning.

The 2009 Legislature passed a bill allowing counties to implement single-use zoning, but the task force is tiptoeing around the hot-button topic of zoning by not endorsing any other requirements, such as density, setbacks or land use.

'We are recommending this zoning for gravel pit zoning only and not anything else; it's just for gravel pits,' Seifert said.

Even so, any zoning document is amendable to include other uses, according to state law. Once in place, the law allows county officials to tack on other requirements, though potential amendments must go through a process entailing notification, public hearings and a protest period, county planner Tom Rogers said.

That caused some operators to balk, largely because the agricultural community rose up in March threatening to protest the county's stab at zoning rural areas in an effort to corral growth.

'I'm opposed to zoning the unzoned areas of the county because most of our operations are with ag and ranch people,' Pike said. 'The ag and ranch folks don't want to see it.'

Gallatin Gateway-area gravel pit owner Dick Huttinga agreed and said he was concerned about sliding down a slippery slope.

'Once we start to open this, it will continue for other issues,' he said.

Zoning aside, the task force supported the regulation. If adopted, the document requires mining operations to go through the CUP process and mitigate any adverse effects their operations would have on nearby neighbors and roads, according to county records.

Seifert told the task force that county officials have expressed a desire for a 'seat at the table' when new and expanding pits come online. While the state dictates what happens inside the gravel pit, there are no rules for what happens in other areas, such as environmental issues that could emanate from the pit.

But industry officials were concerned that the county doesn't have a qualified employee to handle such tasks, Pike said.

'We're used to regulation, but who are they going to send out?' he said. 'And if they contract the job out, who is going to pay for it?'

While the task force voted 5-2 in favor of recommending a single-issue zoning district to govern gravel pits, the regulation could also be adopted by the roughly 22 zoning districts in the county, Seifert said.

The next move will be presenting the idea to the county, Belgrade and Manhattan planning boards, Jensen said. Those board members will weigh in before the document is passed to county commission. Once in the hands of the county, commissioners can adopt, change or ignore the document.

The regulation can be found online at the county Web site at gallatin.mt.gov under the 'What's New & Happening Now' link on the planning department page.