Wednesday, July 27, 2011
From the General Manager: Anti-quarry trump card could already be here
The Gallatin News Examiner
Click here for original article published July 27, 2011
MIKE TOWLE
Click here for original article published July 27, 2011
Written by
Mike Towle
The party's over, for now.
The jubilation Castalian Springs residents and other quarry opponents felt July 14 when the county Zoning Board of Appeals rejected Hoover's request to install quarry/plant operations in Castalian Springs has died down. Now everyone gets to hold his or her collective breath to see where Hoover's legal appeal goes, presumably the next stop being Chancery Court Judge Tom Gray's courtroom.
If Hoover's appeal gets denied in chancery court, the 'quarrysome' Brentwood-based crushed stone and paving company could continue its legal drive to the state level and perhaps beyond. The farther this case meanders away from Sumner County, the greater the chance that, eventually, a ruling could come down in Hoover's favor. County Executive Anthony Holt, an outspoken critic of the quarry, knows this. It's also why Castalian Springs residents, and much of Sumner County, are back sitting on pins and needles.
“The question is how far (Hoover) wants to push it,” Holt said. “I feel good that we've at least won the first battle and have a good chance of winning the war, but we still need to keep them at bay.”
While attorneys from both sides gear up for whatever comes next in the courts, one point in the anti-quarry argument's favor is the Nashville MPO's 2035 Plan. Included in that is a Tri-County Land Use Plan, which encompasses Sumner, Robertson and Wilson counties. The Tri-County Plan expresses a commitment to the protection and enhancement of community character, which, translated, means historic preservation.
In that regard, Castalian Springs is truly a model community. Wanna talk historic? Start with Wynnewood, designated a National Historic Landmark and undergoing a $6 million state-paid repair. Continue with nearby Cragfont, Hawthorne Hill, Bledsoe's Fort Historical Park and the ancient Indian burial grounds. You might as will tear up the venerable grounds at Augusta National Club or bulldoze Williamsburg, Va., or Charleston, S.C., as to blast away at the 350-plus acres Hoover bought smack-dab in the middle of Castalian Springs.
Part of the Hoover-bought acreage is classified as a historic village under land-use terms of the 2035 Plan, Holt said, and that apparently works against Hoover's intended use of the land. Furthermore, most if not all of the land, Holt added, is zoned R1A, which means residential one-acre lots. Still, Hoover plows ahead, apparently confident it will ultimately find a court that will let them pursue their goal. What is it they know that the rest of us don't?
Holt would like to see something legislated that has more teeth beyond just a 2035 "historic village" designation to keep Hoover from turning lush green countryside into a 21st century Stone Age.
“We want the county to grow, but we want growth that ties into what our community already has,” Holt said. “It can't be done overnight. It will take public input, and the citizens will be able to shape it to a certain extent.”
There appears to be a shortcut to an anti-quarry solution, short of introducing new state legislation, that is. McDonald, the state representative from Portland whose district covers Castalian Springs, recently uncovered a Tennessee ordinance -- TCA 13-7 Parts 401-410 -- that could be the county's anti-quarry trump card.
In a nutshell, TCA 13-4 part 4 empowers a county to form an historic zoning commission, which could then establish a historic district or zone as part of a new zoning ordinance or as an amendment to existing ordinances. Castalian Springs would be a plum target. According to TCA 13-7-404, such a rezoning to "historic" would need to meet at least one of five criteria, relative to local events and/or structures of historical significance. Castalian Springs arguably bats a Ty Cobbian 5-for-5 in this regard.
Once again, an issue significant to the future of Sumner County could end up in the hands of our County Commission.
“I'd be happy to propose legislation for this if needed, but the statutes are already in place for the county to proceed with this historic zoning,” McDonald said Monday. “All the county has to do is go through the process of public hearings, and then the County Commission would have to vote and make that change.”
Part 409 of TCA 13-7 allows for an appeals process by an aggrieved party -- such as a Hoover, presumably. As a whole, however, the 13-7 Part 4 ordinance could be the land-use/zoning 99-percent solution that anti-quarry residents and activists are looking for.
The question is, how fast can this county act?
The jubilation Castalian Springs residents and other quarry opponents felt July 14 when the county Zoning Board of Appeals rejected Hoover's request to install quarry/plant operations in Castalian Springs has died down. Now everyone gets to hold his or her collective breath to see where Hoover's legal appeal goes, presumably the next stop being Chancery Court Judge Tom Gray's courtroom.
If Hoover's appeal gets denied in chancery court, the 'quarrysome' Brentwood-based crushed stone and paving company could continue its legal drive to the state level and perhaps beyond. The farther this case meanders away from Sumner County, the greater the chance that, eventually, a ruling could come down in Hoover's favor. County Executive Anthony Holt, an outspoken critic of the quarry, knows this. It's also why Castalian Springs residents, and much of Sumner County, are back sitting on pins and needles.
“The question is how far (Hoover) wants to push it,” Holt said. “I feel good that we've at least won the first battle and have a good chance of winning the war, but we still need to keep them at bay.”
While attorneys from both sides gear up for whatever comes next in the courts, one point in the anti-quarry argument's favor is the Nashville MPO's 2035 Plan. Included in that is a Tri-County Land Use Plan, which encompasses Sumner, Robertson and Wilson counties. The Tri-County Plan expresses a commitment to the protection and enhancement of community character, which, translated, means historic preservation.
In that regard, Castalian Springs is truly a model community. Wanna talk historic? Start with Wynnewood, designated a National Historic Landmark and undergoing a $6 million state-paid repair. Continue with nearby Cragfont, Hawthorne Hill, Bledsoe's Fort Historical Park and the ancient Indian burial grounds. You might as will tear up the venerable grounds at Augusta National Club or bulldoze Williamsburg, Va., or Charleston, S.C., as to blast away at the 350-plus acres Hoover bought smack-dab in the middle of Castalian Springs.
Part of the Hoover-bought acreage is classified as a historic village under land-use terms of the 2035 Plan, Holt said, and that apparently works against Hoover's intended use of the land. Furthermore, most if not all of the land, Holt added, is zoned R1A, which means residential one-acre lots. Still, Hoover plows ahead, apparently confident it will ultimately find a court that will let them pursue their goal. What is it they know that the rest of us don't?
Holt would like to see something legislated that has more teeth beyond just a 2035 "historic village" designation to keep Hoover from turning lush green countryside into a 21st century Stone Age.
“We want the county to grow, but we want growth that ties into what our community already has,” Holt said. “It can't be done overnight. It will take public input, and the citizens will be able to shape it to a certain extent.”
There appears to be a shortcut to an anti-quarry solution, short of introducing new state legislation, that is. McDonald, the state representative from Portland whose district covers Castalian Springs, recently uncovered a Tennessee ordinance -- TCA 13-7 Parts 401-410 -- that could be the county's anti-quarry trump card.
In a nutshell, TCA 13-4 part 4 empowers a county to form an historic zoning commission, which could then establish a historic district or zone as part of a new zoning ordinance or as an amendment to existing ordinances. Castalian Springs would be a plum target. According to TCA 13-7-404, such a rezoning to "historic" would need to meet at least one of five criteria, relative to local events and/or structures of historical significance. Castalian Springs arguably bats a Ty Cobbian 5-for-5 in this regard.
Once again, an issue significant to the future of Sumner County could end up in the hands of our County Commission.
“I'd be happy to propose legislation for this if needed, but the statutes are already in place for the county to proceed with this historic zoning,” McDonald said Monday. “All the county has to do is go through the process of public hearings, and then the County Commission would have to vote and make that change.”
Part 409 of TCA 13-7 allows for an appeals process by an aggrieved party -- such as a Hoover, presumably. As a whole, however, the 13-7 Part 4 ordinance could be the land-use/zoning 99-percent solution that anti-quarry residents and activists are looking for.
The question is, how fast can this county act?
In case you missed it...
... the videos for the July 14th hearing of the Sumner County Zoning Board of Appeals (a.k.a. Hornets vs. Hoover, Round One) are now uploaded. It's 11 parts. Please check them out if you weren't able to attend the hearing and share them as you see fit.
More videos after the jump.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
From the General Manager: A flock is a flock is a flock
Click here for original article published in The Gallatin News Examiner 7-20-2011
This past Thursday evening, July 14, hundreds of Castalian Springs residents, friends, relatives and other anti-quarry supporters flocked to the Sumner County Administration Building. As many as could fit squeezed into the Bethel Brown Commission Chambers, SRO, with the overflow pouring out into the lobby area.
They were there for the county’s Zoning Board of Appeals to hear a request by Hoover Inc., to stick a quarry operation into Castalian Springs. Dozens wore red T-shirts that had “Crush the Quarry” written on back. For the most part they were well-behaved; no stones were pitched.
The Quarry Crushers were there to show, applaud and at times yell their support for anyone or anything bent on preventing Hoover from breaking ground on its proposed quarry operations in Castalian Springs. Speakers during the hearing included quarry opponents State Rep. Mike McDonald (D-Portland), Tennessee Director of Historic Sites Martha Akins, Sumner County Executive Anthony Holt and state historian extraordinaire Walter Durham.
The most compelling pitch was a visual – citizens’ attorney Kevin Williams showing PowerPoint slides of an SVU parked next to a monstrous rock-hauling truck, its tires taller than the top of the full-size SVU. Another showed a Ford F-150 pickup, looking like a Matchbox toy in comparison, parked in the well of another humongous quarry truck. This, Williams was saying, is the kind of daily traffic Castalian Springs will be cozy to if this quarry deal goes through.
The quarry’s most visible and vocal opponent is retiree Tom Neal, a pesky and demonstrative sort on the high five of 65 and quickly becoming a local celebrity. His impassioned podium-pounding speech, worthy of the ESPYs and including multiple renditions of “A rock is a rock is a rock!!!”, beseeching the zoning board to reject the quarry, might have been the evening’s highlight. If Castalian Springs ever needs a mayor, it could do a lot worse than Neal. If Notre Dame ever needs a new leprechaun mascot to lead cheers on the football sideline, the diminutive Neal, Scotch/Irishman through and through, would be a natural.
The zoning board took all of about 15 minutes to unanimously reject Hoover’s request to plant a quarry operations, complete with rock-crushing operations, an asphalt plant and a concrete plant, into the lushest gut of Castalian Springs. At that, a loud chorus of cheers rocked the inner sanctum of the administration building. One spectator standing in the back of the room let out a sigh of relief heard all the way to Corum Hill Road. That was Clay Haynes, son of Michelle Haynes and the late Charles Haynes. It was Michelle Haynes who sold the biggest parcel in Hoover’s local land grab to the tune of $2 million, unwittingly, she and the family have insisted, that they were selling to a quarry operation.
For the last month or so, hordes of naysayers have buzzed Clay Haynes, questioning his family’s loyalties and accusing them of what-not. The hot potato has now been passed to the local court system.
“I think tonight will be a good night’s sleep,” said Haynes, looking like someone whose systolic had just dropped 50 points. “Strands of history is what makes our (Castalian Springs) community great, and that was shown tonight.”
Where did Hoover go wrong in getting to this point? A big part of it was in how it went about buying the land, tiptoeing in under cover, their Trojan horse an LLC land-buying front innocently named Western Farm Products. It’s a good guess Sumner has its share of resident sinners who think they are saints when it comes to business deals, but for an outside company to come in under another name, knowing their operations could be revealed as a potential mess maker in an area decorated with historical landmarks, well, that’s asking for trouble.
This story isn’t over. The worst-kept secret throughout all this is that Hoover will likely pursue a legal challenge. Their argument Thursday night, as expressed by attorney Tom White, is that the 350 acres they bought for a total of about $2.3 million, carries a land-use classification in which mining and quarrying operations are recognized. In his “closing argument” before the vote went to the board, White said that Hoover’s operations would have no damaging impact on historical sites in the area, such as Wynnewood.
After the board’s turndown vote, White said, “We’re disappointed, but we feel the board did not follow the law.”
It will likely be weeks or months before all the dust settles. Chancery court or circuit court looms ahead.
Better keep those red “Crush the Quarry” T-shirts laundered, folks. You’ll need them again.
Mike Towle
Published in The Gallatin News Examiner 7-20-2011
Proposed rock quarry leaves residents stone-faced
Click here for original article.
The Portland Leader
By Bonnie Fussell, Contributing Writer
The Portland Leader
By Bonnie Fussell, Contributing Writer
The Sumner County Board of Zoning and Appeals voted unanimously to deny the request made by Hoover, Inc. to build a rock quarry and additional supportive plants in the historical Castalian Springs area. A large crowd of concerned citizens from all areas of the county attended the Thursday night (July 14) meeting at the Sumner County Administration Building.
Recently, Rutherford County's Hoover, Inc. purchased over 350 acres of land and several additional parcels in Castalian Springs for this purpose.
Recently, Rutherford County's Hoover, Inc. purchased over 350 acres of land and several additional parcels in Castalian Springs for this purpose.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
UPDATE.............Where do we go from here.....................
THANK YOU, THANK YOU ........to all the hornets!! Many thanks to everyone who helped with the effort to "Crush the Quarry" at the Board of Zoning Appeals level. There are so many people that were instrumental in making a positive impact for Castalian Springs that it's not possible to name everyone. The team of lawyers, the core group of Save Castalian Springs, the county officials, the tv and newspaper coverage, all the people willing to help in any way - selling t-shirts, distributing signs, phone calls, soliciting donations, signing petitions, speaking at a meeting, telling your neighbors, and on and on and on. Without everyone's help we would not have been able to have their application denied.
Now what's next?? Below is a message from Kevin Williams, one of the attorneys that worked endless hours to help the cause........................
Now what's next?? Below is a message from Kevin Williams, one of the attorneys that worked endless hours to help the cause........................
I'm one of the lawyers and a resident on Corum Hill Road (the lawyer that did the "PowerPoint" at the Board of Zoning Appeals meeting).
At this point we are expecting an appeal to the Courts (most likely Chancery Court before Chancellor Tom Gray, a jurist of unimpeachable integrity). We are in the process of preparing now (indeed, we began doing so over the weekend) and will keep the community updated as matters progress.
We anticipate that Sumner County will also bring its resources to bear to defend the decision of its Board of Zoning Appeals.
This fight is far from over but we are all in it to win it!
At this point we are expecting an appeal to the Courts (most likely Chancery Court before Chancellor Tom Gray, a jurist of unimpeachable integrity). We are in the process of preparing now (indeed, we began doing so over the weekend) and will keep the community updated as matters progress.
We anticipate that Sumner County will also bring its resources to bear to defend the decision of its Board of Zoning Appeals.
This fight is far from over but we are all in it to win it!
Zoning board denies quarry request
Zoning board denies quarry request
Click here for article published Sunday July 17, 2011 in Gallatin News Examiner
After hearing comments for more than an hour and a half from both sides of a proposed rock quarry in Castalian Springs, the Sumner County Board of Zoning and Appeals took less than 20 minutes to deny the request of Hoover, Inc. to build a rock quarry, a rock crushing plant, an asphalt plant and a concrete plant on more than 350 acres of land currently zoned for residential and agriculture use.
Board member and local developer Bruce Rainey said during the July 14 meeting that while a mining quarry may be considered in some instances an agricultural business, the other businesses presented in Hoover's site plans were industrial uses.
According to Sumner County Executive Anthony Holt, Hoover is expected to take the matter through Sumner County Chancery Court to request a ruling.
"That was overheard and if that's the case, the county is going to vigorously fight this,"
Holt said after the meeting. "The Board of Zoning and Appeals made the right decision."
Holt said after the meeting. "The Board of Zoning and Appeals made the right decision."
The board's decision was unanimous.
Reporter Sherry Mitchell can be reached at 575-7117 or shmitchell@mtcngroup.com.
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