Board OKs gravel-pit expansion

Expansion of a West Valley gravel pit operation received a green light from the Flathead County Board of Adjustment on Tuesday.

The board approved a conditional-use permit for Gary Krueger to dig at a second location on a 160-acre site north of Clark Road and west of Fox Farm Road.

Krueger already has a conditional-use permit to dig on 80 acres. He has mined almost six acres of a 20-acre dig site within that 80 acres.

However, Krueger said the poor economy has cut the demand for the current dig site's fine sand that is used to make concrete. He sought the second conditional-use permit to dig just south of the current mine for "pit run," a rockier, coarser gravel with several uses.

The second conditional-use permit allows 20 extra acres to be excavated.

Two letters to the county planning department protested the expansion, citing increased traffic and wear and tear on Church Drive, which is the main arterial road serving the gravel pit.

County Planner George Smith said the county road department reviewed and agreed with an engineering study that concluded that Church Drive can sufficiently handle the extra trucks.

The county staff estimated that the extra pit could translate to an additional 100 trips a day on Church Drive.

Clara LaChappelle of Farm-To-Market Road protested Tuesday about Church Drive being a thoroughfare for several West Valley gravel pits.

"I've been in front of this board several times about gravel pits, and it falls on deaf ears. … You keep compiling, keep compiling, keep compiling, keep compiling a lot of gravel pits in a very small area," LaChappelle said.

Neighbor Harold Tutvedt, whose family owns a West Valley gravel operation, supported Krueger's expansion request, saying the traffic won't seriously hurt Church Drive.

The board approved the conditional-use permit 4-0 with Tony Sagami absent. Board member Gina Klempel said she owns a gravel pit, but has no connection with the Krueger operation.