Source: Douglas Sacha / Getty
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. — Residents of Noblesville packed city hall Wednesday for a meeting of the city’s zoning board as a company looks to get lots of land rezoned so it can mine it for materials.
Beaver Materials wants to mine 68 acres of undeveloped land for sand and gravel. These materials are needed for construction projects, according to the company. The land would need to be rezoned by the city’s zoning board to do that since the land is currently zoned for the use of residential homes.
People who live near where the plot of land the company is looking to get rezoned are pushing back though. They have been putting up signs around the area and voicing their concerns to city leaders.
“This company plans on harvesting materials from a property they don’t own for the sake of their trust funds, for their children,” said one woman who spoke to the zoning board on Tuesday.
She and many others are worried about the impacts of a mining operation, such as dust and other environmental impacts, plus any noise the operation may cause. They fear it will end up driving property values down.
“Beaver has also chosen to what is best for the city,” said Chris Beaver, the president of Beaver Materials. “And we backfill (the land).”
The mining operation would take about ten years if approved by the zoning board.
Ultimately, the board decided to postpone Tuesday’s vote on the matter in order to gather more information about the plans for the operation.
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