
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 25, 1993                   TAG: 9306250061
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LON WAGNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FRANKLIN QUARRY WINS LEGAL FIGHT BUT FOES VOW ACTION, DESPITE VA. SUPREME

After four years and two trips to the Virginia Supreme Court, Rockydale Quarries Corp. has won its battle with a handful of Franklin County residents to mine granite from Jacks Mountain.

The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from the residents, thereby clearing the way for the Roanoke-based quarry operator to finally mine the 280 acres it bought six years ago.

"It's been a long one, to say the least," Rockydale President Gordon Willis Jr. said of the legal battle. "The Supreme Court has given us the go-ahead and that's what we're going to do."

Edward Natt, an attorney representing residents who live near Jacks Mountain and oppose Rockydale's plans, said he was looking into "every possible option and alternative" to stop Rockydale from mining.

Natt wouldn't speak about what those options might be, but said the Supreme Court's refusal last week to hear the appeal was "probably not" the end of the battle for the residents.

Though Rockydale bought the land in eastern Franklin County in July 1987, the company raised residents' suspicions with its 11th-hour rush to apply for a land disturbance permit in May 1988, just hours before Franklin County adopted land-use zoning.

In a later court battle over whether the company had "vested rights" - basically meaning its plans for the land were laid out before the property was zoned - Rockydale admitted the last-minute permit application made a bad impression.

By establishing its vested rights, Rockydale avoided having to go through a public hearing process. That process would have given residents at least two opportunities to state their case publicly against the mining operation.

Willis said the company had signed a contract on the land in 1986 and bought it the following year.

During ensuing court battles in Franklin County Circuit Court and the state Supreme Court, residents and the company argued over how much Rockydale had invested in the land before zoning was established. In refusing to hear the residents' appeal, the Supreme Court agreed with a January Circuit Court decision that the quarry operator had taken sufficient steps before land-use zoning was approved.

Willis said Rockydale will spend $500,000 to construct a plant, scales and an office at Jacks Mountain.

The Jacks Mountain operations will be Rockydale's first granite quarry. The "nonpolishing" granite underneath the surface of Jacks Mountain will be used for highways and riprapping shoreline to prevent erosion.

Willis said the future quarry's proximity to Smith Mountain Lake would give the company an advantage in selling granite for riprapping.

by CNB