A proposed change to the county zoning resolution might make it easier to locate quarries in rural areas -- but one neighbor of a proposed quarry on Kellertown Road, being developed by the son of a planning commission member, opposed having the project in her neighborhood.

Bedford County Planning Commission discussed quarry regulations during a meeting on Tuesday night. From left are secretary Linda Yockey, who chaired Tuesday's meeting in the absence of chairman Kennon Threet; county zoning officer Kay Demonbren; state planner Bo Logan, who works regularly with the county; and Logan's supervisor, regional director Phil Maples, who advised the planners on several issues Tuesday night. (T-G Photo by John I. Carney) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Bedford County Planning Commission met Tuesday night and asked state planner Bo Logan to draft a proposed change to the county zoning resolution which would move quarries from the M-2 (heavy industrial) zone to the M-1 (light industrial) zone.

Last month, Chuck Hawkins, son of planning commission member Venson Hawkins, appeared before the planners to discuss his plans for a rock quarry on Kellertown Road. He has not yet submitted any formal rerquest or application.

But planners said last month that quarries are allowed only in the M-2 zone -- and the M-2 zone can be created only within a city's urban growth boundary, and only on main arterial roads. That would leave no way for Chuck Hawkins to develop his project.

Planners say that the M-2 zone's urban growth regulations may be a bad idea for quarries -- it might make sense to place a quarry away from urban areas. They asked Logan to review the resolution.

Phil Maples, Logan's supervisor and a regional director for the state planning office, told planners Tuesday night that Bedford County's existing zoning resolution has two industrial zones -- M-1 for light industry and M-2 for "all the bad stuff," as Maples put it, ranging from heavy industry to adult businesses to nuclear power plants. Maples said the existing classifications may not completely cover any situation. Maples said that counties must leave some way for any legal use to be created. They can't use the zoning resolution to prohibit undesirable businesses altogether; they can only use it to control where such businesses are located.

Several options were discussed to change the quarry regulations:

* Create a third type of industrial zone.

* Revise the rules of the M-2 zone to eliminate the Urban Growth Boundary requirement.

* Move quarries from M-2 to M-1, which has fewer restrictions.

Planners decided on the third option, asking Logan to prepare a proposed change to the zoning resolution which would allow quarries in M-1 as a special exception. If the change is approved, it would mean that proposed quarries would have to be approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals. Maples said that the Board of Zoning Appeals can't consider public opinion in such matters, only whether the proposed quarry meets the requirements set forth by the zoning resolution.

"You don't survey the audience," said Maples. "That's what politicians do."

Any change to the zoning resolution would have to be approved first by the planning commission and then by the county commission. Only after such a change had been approved could Chuck Hawkins come back and request a special exception for his proposed quarry.

Venson Hawkins said that he has no stake in his son's proposal and will not invest in it. But he said he would have to sell a strip of land to his son in order for the proposed quarry to have highway access.

Mrs. Joe Boyd Walker asked to speak to the planners in opposition to it. She said the quarry would worsen traffic problems on State Route 64, would negatively impact water quality and would hurt property values in the area. She also said that in order to be profitable, the quarry would eventually have to either expand or sell to an out-of-town corporation with less regard for local interests.