Planning commission considers gravel mining renewals

Routine requests for renewals for two gravel mining permits had Acoma Township officials asking if there should be more uniform conditions at the McLeod County Planning Advisory Commission meeting Wednesday, June 28.
The commission considered two renewal requests — one for Luedtke Contracting for a gravel pit on property owned by Bonnie Lou Krueger, and one for Duininck, Inc., for a gravel pit on property owned by Paul Lind. Both pits are in Acoma Township.
Tom Dahl, an Acoma Township supervisor, said the township board recommended approval of the Luedtke request based on the premise that the same conditions would be attached to the renewal as were attached to a similar permit for a mining pit operated by Craig Reiner, also in Acoma Township.
“All of these gravel pits are sitting in the same close proximity; all the conditions should be the same,” said Dahl.
Dahl said the three pits are located within a mile or so of each other.
Larry Gasow, zoning administrator, said that more restrictive conditions, particularly regarding hours of operation, were placed on the Reiner operation because of concerns raised by residents in the area. Gasow said the Reiner pit was in more of a rural-residential area, whereas the other two were not.
For more from the meeting, see the July 5 print edition of The Chronicle.