Borough shuts down gravel operation

BIG LAKE — A gravel operation on the north shore of Big Lake has been shut down after the allegedly trucking off of more material than is allowed without a permit.

Bill Heairet owns 40 acres off West Lakes Boulevard. In February, he applied for a conditional-use permit to level a 9.7-acre ridge for future development. In doing so, the permit would have allowed him to sell the 138,000 cubic yards of gravel using 1,000 trucks per year for 14 years.

The application faced opposition from the Big Lake Community Council, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough planner, the Big Lake Road Service Area board of supervisors and most of the residents who submitted comments.

Heairet withdrew the application before it went to a vote at the borough’s planning commission.

Without a permit, property owners are allowed to extract 2,000 cubic yards of gravel per year. Heairet expressed his intent to extract up to this amount, saying this was all he could realistically do anyway.

Last week, the borough ordered Heairet to shut down his operation after determining he exceeded the limit.

“Usually, we work on the honor system,” code compliance officer Pamela Ness said. “The neighbors are pretty involved in this. They basically were counting the trucks.”

From that count, Ness said, they calculated Heairet had already hauled off more than 2,000 cubic yards of gravel. He will have to seek the conditional-use permit or wait until 2010 to continue the operation.

Greg Strong, a local resident who has organized much of the opposition to the Big Lake operation, pointed to two facts that indicate Heairet exceeded the limit.

First, the borough contracted Heairet for 550 cubic yards of gravel to use for the recent upgrades to Horseshoe Lake Road. Second, he said Heairet has a signed affidavit saying he sent 100 trucks down Belarde Boulevard. As these were larger trucks that could haul 20 cubic yards of gravel each trip, he is 550 yards over the limit by his own admission, Strong said.

Heairet said he is meeting with the borough attorney today, and refused to comment much beforehand. However, he did say he was a bit confused how the borough determined he was over the limit.

“They feel I’m over, yes. I feel I’m not, and I have my records,” Heairet said.

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