Sugar Creek planning commission denies rezoning application
After months of often-emotional public hearings, authorities in Sugar Creek have said a new mining proposal should not go forward.
That was the recommendation of the city’s planning commission Thursday night. The commissioners, in a 6-3 vote, denied a rezoning application for a subsurface limestone mining operation underneath a former dairy farm known as Cedar Crest.
Lafarge Aggregates in August filed an application for the new operation. The approximately 165-acre site is surrounded by hundreds of homes in Independence and unincorporated Jackson County, as well as several churches and an elementary school.
Lafarge representatives were upbeat after the vote, noting that the commission’s vote was not binding and that, ultimately, the city’s Board of Aldermen would decide.
“We are disappointed by the vote, but it’s not over,” said Brett Baker, a general manager of the Lafarge aggregates division. “It’s possible,” Baker added, “that the Lafarge proposal could be tweaked and perhaps incorporate some suggestions made by commission members Thursday” The city’s aldermen rejected a similar proposal in 2007.
Published under Cement News
