Quarry Plan Irks Castalian Springs Residents

Full Story with great photos here.


The Tennessean

By Matt Anderson

July 5, 2011

Castalian Springs has survived wars between Native Americans and early settlers. It survived a 2008 tornado outbreak that damaged homes, the post office and a historic log home.

Now, Hoover Inc. and a group of residents are in a fight over the Sumner County community’s future, with the La Vergne-based company proposing a rock quarry and asphalt plant on more than 350 acres surrounded by about 50 homes and state historic sites.

Lynn Smith, who lives across the street from the proposed quarry, worries about its effect on her home and family. Her husband has lung cancer.

During a recent town hall meeting in Gallatin, she confronted representatives of the quarry.

“You’re building this right across the street from my house. You’re going to bomb right in front of my house,” Smith said. “Who the heck is going to take care of all the cracks in my house and all of the above? Can you answer that?”

“My client’s responsible for any damage to your house,” said Tom White, a Nashville-based attorney representing Hoover.

During the community meeting, a standing-room-only crowd of residents said the noise, particles released into the air and traffic would harm their way of life, while the company said the quarry could bring more jobs to town.

Economic impact could be substantial

“We hope that at some point concern will be given to the jobs and economic impact to the county,” White said.

Hoover Vice President Wayne Nobles said the quarry could create up to 130 jobs and generate between $375,000 and $500,000 a year in state and county taxes.

The quarry’s impact would be kept in check by state permitting processes, White said. Quarries are regulated by the Department of Environment and Conservation, and Hoover would have to apply for air-quality and wastewater permits.

Nobles said that at the company’s Lebanon and Murfreesboro sites, blasting occurs on average about once a week and that between 700,000 and 800,000 tons of stone could be extracted annually from the quarries. “If you get really, really busy, you may have to (blast) twice a week at times, but it’s rare you have to do more than that,” Nobles said.

Hoover bought several tracts of land for $2.3 million in May with hopes of obtaining a conditional-use permit from the Sumner County Board of Zoning Appeals. The company bought the property through a limited-liability company, Western Farm Products.

The proposed site is bounded by Corum Hill Road to the west and Carter Lane to the southeast. Old Highway 25 cuts through the site, which extends north to Highway 25.

Sumner County Executive Anthony Holt said a permit for the quarry would have to be decided by the Board of Zoning Appeals at its July 14 meeting.

He said he was concerned about the impact a quarry would have on the county’s and state’s long-term vision for historical preservation and tourism in the area.

“This doesn’t appear to me an area that’s conducive for that type of activity,” Holt said.

Area is 'like a little Williamsburg'

According to Martha Akins, the Tennessee Historical Commission’s state sites program director, Castalian Springs is home to historic sites of national significance.

“It’s like a little Williamsburg,” Akins said.

Andrew Jackson and Jesse James both stopped in what was then Bledsoe’s Lick at the stagecoach inn at Wynnewood, recognized as the largest log structure in Tennessee. The state has invested $6 million to aid in the inn’s recovery from the 2008 tornado.

Another state historic site, Hawthorne Hill, is the birthplace of former Tennessee Gov. William Bate and was also home to his cousin, Humphrey Bate, a charter member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Artifacts from nearby Indian mounds are on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., Akins said.

State and county officials said the long-term vision for the area includes a historic district that would protect the sites and allow joint tourism marketing for Bledsoe Creek State Park, Cragfont Estates and the county’s Bledsoe Historic Park, along with Wynnewood and Hawthorne Hill.

Having a quarry in the center of the 540 preserved acres there would destroy the potential for tourism, Akins said.

“Can you imagine Williamsburg and someone putting a rock quarry in the middle of that?” she said.

Residents have hired Sumner County attorney David Amonette and set up a blog, Save Castalian Springs.

Akins and representatives of the Bledsoe’s Lick Historical Association said they were never contacted about Hoover’s plans.

“When you look at a piece of property, you want to check on the historical sites,” White said. “You look at what are the state-recognized sites. … We were aware of every one of them before we bought the property.”

The proposed quarry site is home to at least two small family cemeteries. White said that Hoover would meet its obligation to build a fence around the cemeteries and allow the families access to the graves.