SANDPOINT - The Bonner County Planning and Zoning Commission rejected a proposal Tuesday to develop a gravel mine near the Kootenai County line.

The commission ruled on a 4-0 vote that the surface mine and rock-crushing operation would be too disruptive to adjacent landowners and the rural character on Granite Hill.

"This project would do significant harm to the neighborhood and surrounding areas," Commissioner Roger Daar said.

The decision capped a four-hour public hearing in which 34 people testified in opposition to the Knife River Corporation proposal. Scores of others chose not to testify, but told commissioners they concurred with their neighbors' objections.

Knife River proposed the project on a 160-acre parcel on the east side of U.S. Highway 95. The company proposed the gravel pit in order to provide material for highway realignment and widening between Garwood and Sagle.

The property off Anglin/Roberts Road is owned by the David Haman Trust.

see GRAVEL, C5

GRAVEL

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Determined opponents have dogged the proposal ever since it was first proposed in 2008. They argued the project would mar the mountainside, scare off wildlife, threaten water quality and quantity, and shatter the rural ambiance of the neighborhood with dust, noise and truck traffic. They also contended the site would pose a safety risk for children making their way to a school bus stop.

"These people are not asking you to deny this gravel pit. They're begging you to deny this gravel pit," said Gordie Andrea, who likened Knife River's plans to mitigate the negative impacts to attempting to put a gunshot back into the barrel after it's been fired.

A wide swath of the opposition said the surface mine would irreparably damage property values, which are already in decline because of the chilled real estate market. Some worried they would be unable to sell their property if the gravel pit were to be developed.

"I might as well throw my keys to the bank and walk away," said landowner Dana Arnold.

Jan Lenning, using an Auburn University study on property values in the proximity of "disamenities," would devalue property by $990,000 in Bonner County and $1.5 million in Kootenai County.

Knife River officials countered that there was a comprehensive suite of measures to contain fugitive dust and prevent groundwater contamination. They also emphasized that the project is job-specific, which means it would not be operated continuously during the 50-year life of the mine.

But they conceded that there is no way to entirely mute visual or noise impacts.

"I will not claim that we are invisible and not heard," said Tim Marshall of Knife River.

But Commissioner David Williams said the economic benefits of allowing the gravel pit would be eclipsed by the negative impacts on neighbors.

"This will have a serious adverse effect," Williams said.

Commissioners held that there was too much residential development surrounding the proposed pit and there was no showing that material cannot be mined from four other existing gravel pits in the area.

Knife River can appeal the board's ruling to the county commission.