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Permit OK'd for gravel mine near Sidney

The Cheyenne County Board of Commissioners approved Tuesday a conditional use permit for Pit Acres LLC to open a pit gravel mine and asphalt and concrete batch plants northwest of Sidney near County Road 99.

The motion was passed unanimously by commissioners Philip Sanders, Steven Olson and chairman Darrell Johnson, subject to 11 conditions drafted by the county Planning and Zoning Committee.

In a phone interview, Cheyenne County Attorney Paul Schaub said in order for certain uses to be undertaken on property, landowners must go through an application process.

“[The owners] did that this time,” he added. “They didn’t do it last time.”

The property is the former site of Pine Bluffs Gravel & Excavation, a gravel mining operation. In the spring of 2013, Cheyenne County issued that company a cease and desist letter, alleging work on the property violated permissible uses.

After an appeal, the dispute ultimately wound up in Cheyenne District Court, which ordered the company to halt work.

Besides lacking a conditional use permit, the Sun-Telegraph reported at the time, “two of the landowners with property near the site in question testified to troubles that the work caused, including noise, dust and increased traffic.”

The court’s 2014 ruling included a permanent injunction against the property’s owners, Raymond and Teresa Kuehn, and the gravel and excavation company that prohibited them from “occupying and/or using the real estate to operate, maintain or construct sand, rock and/or gravel mining operations and any other industrial use to include the use, maintenance, construction and any other activity related to a sand or gravel pit or any operation pertaining to such a pit.”

The order, which applies only to the southeast quarter of the property, remains in place.

The Kuehns recently filed Pit Acres as a LLC, and while the company is the owner, they are the primary shareholders, according to Schaub.

Raymond Kuehn was present Tuesday to answer any questions about the new application.

Colleen Terman, Cheyenne County Planning and Zoning coordinator, told the commissioners the proposed permit only concerned to the western portion of the property and didn’t apply to the five acres where excavation previously occurred.

The Planning and Zoning Committee recommended last month the permit be approved along with conditions, Schaub told the commissioners.

“I was at that meeting,” he said. “What they emphasized, if you are considering approval, there is a list of conditions. I think you should adopt those recommendations as well.”

The conditions limit the times mining operations can be conducted and prohibit certain activities from occurring within set distances to property lines and nearby residences.

On Tuesday, after reviewing the application, Johnson asked Kuehn if he had anything to add.

“In order to sell gravel, I need a permit,” he replied.

The commissioners also questioned Kuehn about his plans for reclamation of the site excavated in previous years.

He said it needed to be cleaned up and he is in the process of applying for a permit to conduct work on that area of land.

Sanders said he is confident Kuehn will follow through.

“I know Ray well enough to know it will be done right,” he said.

Wilson made a motion to approve the permit, and all three commissioners signaled their support in a roll-call vote.

“They now have the permits,” Schaub told the Sun-Telegraph. “They can now operate in the manner indicated in the permit, as long as they follow the conditions.”

Before Pit Acres can apply for a conditional use permit for the eastern part of the property, he added, the Kuehns must first ask the court to lift the injunction ordered last year.

 

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