With a standing room only crowd of almost 200 people, the Lyndon Township Planning Commission heard a special land use zoning request from McCoig Materials, Inc. of Plymouth for a proposed sand and gravel mining operation off M-52 in Lyndon Township across from Green Lake.
The proposed trucking of materials is planned through downtown Chelsea en route to I-94 and the parcel in question is currently zoned as rural residential.
John Enos, Lyndon Township planner from Carlisle Wortman Associates, Inc., started off the meeting by stating that he wants to see a better “hydrogeological view” on the potential impact of the proposed mining operation, as well as determining whether McCoig’s proposal conforms with the township’s master plan, which defines Lyndon Township as a “rural recreational community.”
Ronald Richards of Foster Swift, who serves as Lyndon Township attorney, stated that the township’s authority to regulate Mineral Mining Operations (MMOs) is very limited under current state law. In a notice issued by township supervisor Marc Keezer, it is stated that: “Michigan State Legislators have greatly reduced township control by adopting Act 110 of 2006. Under that law, the township must not ‘prevent the extraction, by mining, of valuable natural resources from any property unless very serious consequences would result from the extraction of those natural resources.’”
Further, “The township’s authority is limited to ‘reasonable regulation of hours of operation, blasting hours, noise levels, dust control measures, and traffic.’”
The notice emphasizes that “All other regulations are performed by MDOT for roads and MDEQ/DNR for environmental issues.”
After Tim Forell of Forenergy LLC, a consultant for McCoig Materials, gave a presentation outlining McCoig’s plan for the site, well over a dozen concerned residents of Lyndon Township and Chelsea stood to voice protest to the proposed mining operation.
Bob Pierce, executive director of the Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce, stated that the truck traffic through Chelsea would pose a “greatly increased risk to pedestrians” and that “We cannot envision any positive impact from this mining operation.”
Chelsea City Council Member Melissa Johnson echoed these concerns, and added that, with increased Amtrak and freight train traffic through Chelsea, there is concern about the impact on emergency response time, as well as increased traffic and wear and tear on side streets, adding that people would attempt to avoid the increased congestion on Main Street.
She stated that “This will have a serious negative impact on our economy,” and that “The proposed truck traffic will have a huge impact on noise levels.”
Township residents who live on and around Island Lake, expressed deep concerns about the potential decreased water level of the lake, as well as the noise generated by the mining operation.
In a written statement to Planning Commission, Tim Eder states that “I have serious concerns about this proposal. It poses serious threats to our property values.”
Eder pointed out that no independent hydrologic impact assessment has been performed, and that “The question of hydrologic impact of the project on surrounding ground and surface water features is enormously important to residents of Island Lake. The value of our properties is tied directly to the level of the lake.”
The hearing was adjourned at 10 p.m., but 20 or so people still wanted to speak, so Lyndon Township’s Planning Commission will continue discussions on the proposed gravel pit and sand mining operation next month. The date expected to be announced sometime later this week.
The issue will also be discussed at the next Lyndon Township Board meeting, which is tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 19, at the Lyndon Township Hall at 7 p.m.
People signing in for hearing.
