| Monday, April 17, 2006
Residents gear up again to fight mining
By Jessie L. Bonner, Bonita News (Contact)
Original article
here.
The life of a mining operation can span several decades. At age 54, Bill
Lytell doesn't have that kind of time. But his grandchildren will.
They'll inherit the 15 acres the family owns east of Interstate 75.
They'll be in constant view of the dusty piles of crushed rock. They'll
drive on the south Lee County roads laden with dump trucks.
This is the future Lytell hopes to curtail for his family as he gears up
for another fight in the ongoing battle between mining interests and the
rural communities off East Corkscrew Road in a county that is home to
the second largest stone reserve in Florida.
The group of South Lee County residents who fought to keep a proposed
640-acre mine off of Corkscrew Road four years ago will mobilize once
again as plans for three separate mining operations on the roadway have
been submitted for county approval.
"It looks to me like they're going to industrialize this whole Corkscrew
area," said Lytell, who pastors the Gospel Baptist Church in Bonita
Springs.
Lytell and his brother Jim, 63, bought property on Glades Farm Road
several years ago. Their homes sit south of Corkscrew Road on land that
falls within Lee County's Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource (DRGR)
area, a designation created in the late 1980s as a way to prevent urban
sprawl and protect groundwater aquifers.
Development within the 96,000 acres was capped at extremely low density,
no more than one unit per every 10 acres. Farming and mining are among
the few land uses permitted.
The brothers built their haven miles away from the traffic and noise
they had found while living in other parts of Southwest Florida. Lytell
tends his goats and wild pigs. His brother points out the mail boxes
were installed in front of their homes last week and they no longer have
to drive out to Six Ls Farm Road to pick up their mail.
"It's quiet. It's out in the country. It's nice out here," Jim Lytell
said. "At night you can see the stars like crazy."
The Lytells knew they would live in the vicinity of mines, but most of
the noise and dump truck traffic was kept farther south toward Alico
Road, they said.
Mining operations have been part of the Lee County landscape since the
1950s, but it wasn't until the past several years ago that residents who
live off East Corkscrew Road began to protest them as a threat to their
serenity.
"I used to like to sit on my back porch in the mornings and have a cup
of coffee," said Kevin Hill, 44, who has lived on Corkscrew Road for 18
years. "Now in the morning, as I sit out there I hear the drag lines and
listen to the backup beepers as they load their trucks."
Residents took action four years ago when the Schwab Materials company
submitted a proposal to mine limestone on a 640-acre tract south of
Corkscrew Road. Residents spent $50,000 to hire a lawyer and various
experts to testify that the operation could not co-exist with residences
in the area.
Lee County commissioners later voted unanimously against the project.
The following year, residents protested a request from the Westwind Mine
company to rezone 456 acres of a 600-acre parcel to allow more mining
and heavier uses like concrete block-making plants. The company later
withdrew its request.
"We've basically beat two of them back," Hill said. "Now we've got three
of them waiting in the wings."
Hill now maintains a Web site to keep residents informed about
developments that could have an impact on their Corkscrew Road
neighborhood. The Lytells have sent out notices of the mining
applications now before the county.
Proposals include a plan from Estero Group Limited to mine a 318-acre
site to a depth of 95 feet. Youngquist Brothers Excavation in Fort Myers
has a 25 percent share in a proposal to mine a 1,365-acre site to a
depth of 20 feet and transport fill materials from the site.
The operation is allowable under Lee County codes and would be less
intense than a full-blown rock mining outfit. If approved, the mine's
life would span no longer than 10 years, said Richard Friday, chief
financial officer for Youngquist Brothers.
"A rock mine is much more intensive and it's a much longer project,"
Friday said. "This is a fill pit. It will not involve any blasting at
all on the property."
Residents say the project will produce still more dump truck traffic on
Corkscrew Road. A traffic impact analysis submitted in the proposal
estimates the operation would put 862 trucks on the road during a
typical day.
"I can understand their fear. That truck traffic is fairly intense on
Corkscrew and Alico Road because there's so many large mines out there,"
said Paul O'Connor, director of planning for Lee County.
While the mining operations create inconveniences for residents who live
nearby, the reality is that they are critical to the Southwest Florida
economy, O'Connor said.
"One of Lee County's main economic engines is construction," he said.
"These mines are an integral part of that."
While commissioners have voted against mining operations in the past,
they also face retribution from mine companies who could sue under the
Bert Harris Act, a unique Florida law that allows property owners to
collect damages if government action steals a property's value.
"If the county were to pass regulations to stop mining," O'Connor said,
"they'd have a very large liability to property owners."
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