Big Lake residents split over gravel pit

BIG LAKE — Expect heated debate at the Big Lake firehouse when the community council discusses a proposed gravel operation.

At 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, both sides will have a say about the application pending by Bill and Helen Heairet to clear a 9.7-acre ridge on their 40-acre tract off of Belarde Boulevard.

The application has already been passed by the Big Lake Community Council and heads to a Borough Planning Commission in April.

Before it gets there, another session of the community council has been called by local residents who claim they never had the chance to voice their dissent.

“This violates the comprehensive land-use plan in at least four areas and the borough code in at least three,” said resident Greg Strong. “Community council recommendations have to be consistent with the comp plan.”

It’s no wonder the council passed the application, added Strong, because “the council only cares about who their buddy is. We’re trying to break the old vestiges of cronyism here.”

Their intentions are much less sinister, said Bill Heairet. He said this is for the good of the community and plans on selling the gravel for local developments.

“If the borough wants to level roads out here, the pit run has to come from the Parks Highway, so the taxpayers are spending more money” said Heairet. “Material is geographically sold. Developers don’t want to pay the trucking fees if they can get it local.”

However, the portions of the 138,000-cubic-yard ridge that are not sold locally will be trucked out West Lakes Boulevard. Their application provides for 1,000 gravel trucks annually.

“This is a gross over-estimate of the amount that will actually be shipped out. I’ve hauled material out of here for years, and to say there will be an added stress on West Lakes Boulevard, there will be not,” according to Heairet.

“The 40-acre parcel is surrounded by homes on three sides,” warned Strong. “Sometimes these small operations are worse because they don’t feel like the rules apply to them.”

“I’ve done a count myself, and there are 34 houses, none closer than an eighth or a quarter of a mile from the site. Out of those 34, 24 are vacation properties,” said Heairet. “We will only be working Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m., April through September.”

“People hear ‘gravel pit’ and start thinking of huge walls of rock or giant holes in the ground. That’s not what I’m doing,” Heairet said. “I am simply leveling a ridge, not digging a hole or anything like that.”

Heairet said there are many similar gravel sources around Big Lake that never get permits. Even Strong, he claims, used one to build a private road.

“What people don’t understand is that there is a certain amount of gravel you can sell per year without a permit, and I probably won’t exceed that. I am just trying to make something legal that is probably going to happen anyway.”

Whether this is a case of council cronyism or neighborly overreaction, the community will voice their opinions on Wednesday night.

Contact Todd Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.