PRESQUE ISLE TOWNSHIP – Presque Isle Township’s Planning Commission has recommended the approval of Lafarge’s rezoning request to expand its quarry by 19 acres.

In three votes, planning commission members rejected a move to deny the request, rejected the finding that approving the expansion would have very serious consequences and approved sending the request before township trustees.

The second vote came after planning commission members discussed the request in light of a Michigan law that bans any ordinance preventing the extraction of valuable natural resources unless the extraction would cause very serious consequences. Planning commission Chairman Bill Yaklin called the standards set by the law “the meat of the matter.”

Planning commission member Atilla Paltelky said the proposal wasn’t compatible with how the land is currently used. The property, owned by Lafarge, is woodlands and zoned as forest recreation. It’s used by Lafarge employees for hunting grounds.

“Once you extract that you have a hole, there’s no more hunting there,” he said. “You cannot bring it back and say, ‘OK, let’s bring it back up and build a house on it.'”

Planning commission member Howard Welsh countered, saying the planning commission has allowed people to cut down trees before and Lafarge has a right to mine its property.

Throughout the 90-minute discussion, Paltelky referred to a study stating that Presque Isle Quarry has had an impact on Lake Esau and Lotus Lake. Northeast Michigan Council of Governments also recommended a buffer zone around the quarry. Lake of the Woods is now gone after quarry expansion, and he said he believes the 19 acres is the first of many rezoning requests to come from Lafarge. Quarry expansion is against the township’s master plan, he said, and has hurt property values.

Paltelky also questioned whether the high-quality stone is actually on the land, as Lafarge never gave any data to prove it.

Welsh said Lafarge wouldn’t be looking to mine the land if the stone weren’t there, and commission member Steve Lang pointed out that even lower-grade limestone has value. While Welsh conceded there would be some impact to the watershed, he and four other commission members voted in agreement: nothing they’d seen suggested a very serious consequence.

Lang said David Hyndman’s hydrogeological study states the expansion would have an impact on Lotus Lake’s and Lake Esau’s water levels, but when asked at a township meeting, he couldn’t say how much. Lang said that begs the question of how much the planning commission should be willing to accept.

Welsh and planning commission member Clif Taylor said Lafarge is pumping water into Lake Esau, and that those concerned about it should be working with the company. Welsh also said noise and visibility concerns could be addressed when Lafarge brings a site plan to the commission.

It’s the second time the planning commission has approved the request, this one about a year after Lafarge originally submitted it. The request drew opposition from township residents who feared the expansion would negatively impact nearby lakes, land values and quality of life.

Lafarge Presque Isle Quarry Manager Allan Idalski previously told township trustees and planning commission members the 19 acres contains high-quality limestone the quarry wants to use as sweetener to meet the demands of its largest customer. On Monday, he thanked planning commissioners before they voted for putting in the work they did to reach a decision.

Tim Gulden, the township’s attorney, said planning commission members reviewed the request using case law from a state statute that deals with mining. They also reviewed it in the light of 10 questions from case law for regular rezoning, some more applicable to questions of mining than others.

“Not everybody’s going to agree on each standard obviously, that’s good, you get different viewpoints, to be a voice,” he said

Public comment at the meeting was set against the request, with audience members telling of damage done to homes by blasting vibrations, mining noises, impacts to Lake Esau and other quarry issues. Deborah Henley, Presque Isle Alliance for the Conservation of Watershed and Natural Resources president, said she believed Lafarge hadn’t met its burden of proof that the expansion wouldn’t cause very serious consequences. Sharon Paltelky said someone had left a threatening letter in her driveway, aimed at her, that is now being investigated by the Presque Isle County Sheriff’ Department.

In response to Paltelky’s reading of the master plan, township mission statement and more, commission member Bill Schwartz pointed out that it includes promoting the township’s economy.

“Economics, which means work and jobs,” he said. “That requires a long list of preservation and woodlands, forests and lakes and stuff, but we got to get a balance, we can’t just say that we are the picnic ground of Michigan, because we’ve had this quarry here for a long time.”

The initial vote failed 4-3, with Cynthia Paavola, Paltelky and Lang voting against, and Howard Welsh, Yaklin, Taylor and Schwartz voting for. Paltelky and Paavola were the two no votes in the final 5-2 vote to send it to township trustees, who will consider it at their Monday meeting.

Jordan Travis can be reached via email at jtravis@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688. Follow Jordan on Twitter @jt_alpenanews. Read his blog, A Snowball’s Chance, at www.thealpenanews.com.