Quarry set to expand operations
The Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board has granted the owners of a Springhill Township limestone quarry approval to expand operations. The board unanimously gave Laurel Aggregates Inc. a special exception for mineral extraction on property zoned A-1 along Route 857.
Board members Mark Morrison, Charles Cieszynski and Ricardo Cicconi voted in favor of the motion Wednesday afternoon, after several hearings. The board heard testimony on the Laurel Aggregates request last month.
In making the motion, Cicconi said the company must abide by all rules and regulations of the state Department of Environmental Protection, as well as other state and federal agencies, stack no trucks on the highway, allow no idling of trucks and cover all trucks with tarps. Additionally, the company must meet all the previous conditions of initial approval for the quarry, including hours of operation.
During last month’s hearing, company representative Jim Laurita said 30 trucks transport 200 truckloads per day from the site.
Laurita said the loading hours are 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the mining process continues until 10 p.m. He also said that considerations are made for the times in which school buses travel the road.
The zoning board also approved a request from Gina Kintigh to open a gourmet lollipop shop in her Bullskin Township home. The hearing on the lollipop shop was held Dec. 3.
Morrison and Cicconi voted in favor of the request, with Cieszynski voting against it. In voting no, Cieszynski said he had concerns that the deed includes a provision that prohibits commerce in the home.
However, solicitor Gretchen Mundorff said deciding whether deed provisions are legal is not the role of the zoning board. The board must rule only on the facts before them.