Becker County approves sand - Firefly Glow Co.,Ltd

DETROIT LAKES — In spite of opposition from at least 25 people in the Hidden Hills community, the Becker County Board voted 3-1 to approve a conditional use permit for sand mining operations there on Tuesday.

The application by the Metry Family Trust involves a 26-acre parcel at 29292 Becker County Road 54, and they were seeking permission to remove up to 250,000 tons of sand over five years.

The county board ultimately approved up to 150,000 tons over four years, with extraction work limited to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Applicants Collin and Jess Metry were at the county board meeting, and also appeared before the county planning commission on May 31. Collin Metry said they plan to build a home on the land within five years, and want to sell sand from the site to help offset the cost.

Jess Metry said that the site will not be a gravel pit, just a removal of sand from the area where they want to build. She said there will only be equipment there occasionally, and they are just knocking down large mounds on the property to help level the land. They have access to a water truck if needed to knock down the dust, she said.

Collin Metry said that his mining equipment consists of one large payloader and an excavator. He said he has talked with Becker Soil and Water Conservation District and plans to put in a berm to protect wetlands on the site.

Prior to the county board vote, Bob Horner of Lee Lane spoke against the conditional use permit for mining.

"They are planning this on acreage that is surrounded by houses of some 30 years," he said. "I’m three lots away from the pit … there are multiple homes in the area – some within 120 yards of the pit. I worked in a gravel pit in college – I earned a buck an hour, just trying to get by – they’re noisy and they’re dusty."

Hidden Hills is essentially a residential community, Horner said. "Why should people who’ve lived there 20 years have a gravel pit dumped in their backyard? It's already shaking and noisy just from them putting in a road – what's going to happen when the pit starts?"

Jennifer Smith, who lives at 29292 Becker County Road 54, told commissioners on Tuesday that "we have about 40 neighbors opposed to it. I know we’re in the country, but we call it a neighborhood. We’ve raised four children there on 12 acres – it's going to ruin a neighborhood. Would you want a gravel pit two doors down from you?"

Leonard Sunram also strongly opposed the mining request.

The site is about a mile east on County Road 54 off Highway 10, and the Hidden Hills area "is considered one of the most beautiful wildlife nature drives coming out of Detroit Lakes," he wrote in a letter to the county. "It has a very peaceful, quiet community of residential homes."

Using Becker County's GIS measurement scale, he said he noted 22 homes and one cabin within a quarter-mile of the proposed site, and 58 homes within a half-mile of the site, which is only half a mile from Detroit Lakes city limits, as the crow flies.

There is concern about slow-moving heavy truck traffic from the site coming into contact with faster-moving cars on County Road 54, he said, since there is "a hill limiting the view to the southeast, and and a rather sharp curve immediately to the southwest, limiting visibility in both directions and creating a possible danger zone…"

The sand mining will impact him personally, he said, since "we can view much of the proposed gravel area from our house," adding that "I have breathing issues, especially with diesel fuel and dust."

The wetland area on the site is also vulnerable, he said. "At times, this pond and area has raised deer, wild turkeys, beaver, nesting ducks, geese, song birds, herons, turtles, etc.," he wrote. "There are numerous negatives for putting a gravel pit in this area."

On Tuesday, Becker County Commissioner Richard Vareberg, who owns an excavation business himself, spoke strongly in support of granting the conditional use permit for sand excavation.

Good sand is increasingly hard to come by locally, and is needed for roadwork and other construction work in Becker County, he said. When it comes to noise and dust, "it's never the interruption people make it out to be, especially during the day," he said.

Commissioner John Okeson also supported the permit, as did Commissioner David Meyer. Commissioner Barry Nelson was out-of-state and did not attend the meeting on Tuesday.

County Zoning Administrator Kyle Vareberg said that "it's not unusual to have these little pickup sites," for sand and gravel, and said the four-year limit and the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours of operation were "the most restrictive I’ve seen."

Commissioner Erica Jepson, who also sits on the planning commission, ultimately voted against the conditional use request, saying it's a well-established residential area and a bad location for gravel extraction.

"We talked about this at planning commission," she said Tuesday. "If this was going to be a mining operation, we would not support it – simple as that. The conditional use permit goes with the land, and if he should lose the land, someone else could get it."

She said she would not oppose gravel extraction near her home in rural Becker County, because so few people live out there, but the site in Hidden Hills is close to Detroit Lakes and has a lot of families living nearby.

The conditional use permit was approved 3-1, with Jepson voting against it.