Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 6, 1993 TAG: 9302060163
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
FRANKLIN QUARRY FOES FILE APPEAL
Rockydale Quarries' fight to mine granite from Jacks Mountain has been to the Virginia Supreme Court once, and it's headed back there again.A group of nearby property owners filed notice in Franklin County Circuit Court that it will appeal a December opinion that Rockydale could mine the mountain.
Rockydale President Gordon "Bo" Willis Jr. said Friday the company would not attempt to mine the mountain before the court settles the matter.
Rockydale owns 280 acres on the south side of Jacks Mountain, a wooded hill off Virginia 40 east of Rocky Mount.
The battle centers around the arcane issue of "vested rights." The residents opposed to Rockydale's proposal claim the Roanoke-based quarry operator rushed to apply for a land-disturbance permit in May 1988.
Rockydale Quarries Corp. applied for the permit just hours before Franklin County instituted zoning, residents say, so that Rockydale would have vested rights to mine the land.
Rockydale admits it did just that. But Willis has said that Rockydale's intentions for the property were clear since it signed a contract to buy the land in 1986.
The land-disturbance permit, Willis said, was merely for insurance. "It was obviously a race, and we told [the judge] that."
Opponents of the quarry are concerned it would generate too much dust, noise and heavy-truck traffic.
The quarry's opponents had appealed the case to the Supreme Court before. At issue then was whether the county's zoning administrator had the authority to grant Rockydale a waiver in the zoning process.
The Supreme Court ruled in April 1991 that only the courts could grant such a waiver, and the legal battle started again.