Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 7, 1993 TAG: 9301070308
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: JAY TAYLOR CORRESPONDENT (staff)
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
QUARRY FACTIONS HEARD
The president of Charles W. Barger & Son pleaded Wednesday night with the Rockbridge County Planning Commission to allow him to move his limestone quarry operation to a site just outside Lexington.In a hearing that was moved from the county supervisors' chambers to a courtroom two blocks away to accommodate an overflow crowd of about 200, Chuck Barger said, "We're running out of stone. . . . We've got contracts going out in the next few months. That stone has got to come from somewhere. . . . We need your help."
The Planning Commission was considering Barger's request to rezone 112 acres of open land in Rockbridge County for industrial use. Barger wants to mine 48 of the 112 acres for limestone, and has asked the county for a special-use permit as well as a rezoning.
The land adjoins Barger's current quarrying operation. If he is allowed to mine the land, Barger said, all concrete-making equipment now located north of U.S. 60 would be moved into his current quarrying pit, out of sight from most viewpoints.
The hearing was still under way late Wednesday night.
Lexington lawyer William McClung handled most of Barger's presentation, which lasted about an hour. "I don't believe we can get another quarry zoned in Rockbridge County today," McClung said, emphasizing that the quarry's present location helped keep prices down. "We don't want [the community] to get a reputation for being anti-business and anti-industry." If Barger's request is denied, that would send a negative signal to the business community, he said.
Barger has come under fire from some city and county residents who claim their homes have been damaged by blasting at the quarry. Some residents say Barger has not sufficiently repaired their homes or compensated them.
McClung said Barger has done his best to satisfy those who have complained. "Not everybody has been satisfied . . . but it didn't fall on deaf ears," he said.
Barger and McClung proposed that complaints from now on be sent to an independent arbitration panel. "It will take the burden off of our shoulders," McClung said.
"He has tried to be a good neighbor. There is no law that made him do that. He did it because he's Chuck Barger from Lexington, and he's one of their neighbors."
After McClung and Barger spoke, the Planning Commission heard from people supporting the quarry. Opponents were to speak afterward.
The Planning Commission is expected to issue a report to the Board of Supervisors soon.
Barger contends that his businesses, which include construction, concrete and gravel operations, would be severely damaged if he were not allowed to move. They employ 55 people.
Barger has said that his quarrying operation is essential to the development of Lexington and Rockbridge County. Nothing, he says, is built without rock.
Barger's grandfather founded Charles W. Barger & Son, and Barger contends that the company has been a important corporate presence for more than 60 years, having put up several buildings for Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military Institute. Barger also turned a quarrying site into a shopping center, and has said he could have made more money had he quarried the site.
Though Barger's plan would move him farther from Lexington, he still would be within a half mile of homes in the city.
Barger plans to turn his property north of U.S. 60 into a commercial strip of restaurants and businesses.
Activists in Lexington and Rockbridge County are fighting to have Barger's request denied. They contend that the Barger company has mined sloppily, and can no longer be trusted with an operation close to a residential area.
Several dozen homeowners have complained that their homes were damaged by blasting at Barger's quarry. They have said their homes shake sometimes when Barger blasts, and that cracks ranging from hairline fractures to quarter-inch gaps have appeared in basement and cinder-block walls.
Businesses near the quarry also have complained about the blasts, and have reported that rock from Barger's dynamite blasts has landed on their property, damaging vehicles and nearly striking employees.
Recently the county zoning administrator found that Barger had mined outside his permitted area. Barger's critics say this reflects a disdain for the local laws.
They ask that Barger be required to move out into the county. Barger says his location, near the intersection of Interstates 81 and 64, is crucial to his business.
Barger says he has reduced his blasting charges considerably, and that most complaints occurred during the 1980s and have little bearing on his current plans.