Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 24, 1994 TAG: 9403240165
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ADRIENNE PETTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
So he was relieved when the Virginia Supreme Court ruled this month that Rockydale Quarries does not have vested rights to mine granite from Jacks Mountain, a landmark in eastern Franklin County.
Capping Rockydale's six-year battle with residents, including Grimm, who live near the mountain, the court reversed a judgment by the Franklin County Circuit Court and dismissed the case.
"We were just pleased," said Edward Natt, the Roanoke lawyer who represented the residents. "We felt all along that our position is right, and we're glad the court agreed with us."
Officials at the Roanoke quarry operator could not be reached for comment.
But Grimm said he expects that Rockydale will file for a special-use permit from the county Planning and Zoning Commission.
"We fully expect that they will," he said. "When the time comes, we're going to continue to pursue our goal."
The Virginia Supreme Court has considered the case twice.
Rockydale has maintained that it has the right to run its operation because it signed a contract in 1986 to buy the land, long before May 1988, when the county supervisors approved zoning in some areas, including Glade Hill, where the site is located.
Also, the quarry operator has argued that it paid $160,000 for the land and mined about 150 tons of granite to test its quality.
The group opposed to the quarry claims that although the company bought 280 acres on Jacks Mountain, it didn't apply for a land-disturbance permit until just a few hours before the county enacted zoning.
The county zoning administrator at the time ruled that Rockydale had done enough work on Jacks Mountain before zoning to allow the company to work without zoning permits. The quarry opponents appealed, first to the Board of Zoning Appeals, then to Franklin County Circuit Court, both of which sided with Rockydale.
But the state Supreme Court overturned the earlier decisions and sent the case back to Circuit Court. The Supreme Court said it was not the zoning administrator's place to decide the issue.
When the case went back to Circuit Court, the judge sided with the quarry again. The opponents appealed, resulting in their latest victory.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.