Dear Snow Camp Neighbors,
We have great news!
We had a very intense and excellent meeting last night with the County Board of Commissioners. We wish ya’ll were there to experience this lively event first-hand, but we are super grateful to the 14 Snow Camp residents that *showed up* and the 7 community members *spoke passionately* to the Board during the Public Hearing.
Issues addressed:
- The Alamance Aggregates Quarry is operating without a county operating permit in violation of the Heavy Industrial Development Ordinance (HIDO).
- The quarry’s many ongoing and blatant violations of the HIDO and the noise ordinance and lack of enforcement by any county authority.
- Diminishing confidence in county officials for not enforcing the law.
- Concerns that county officials do not work for their constituents but instead are beholden to big corporate heavy industry operators.
- One speaker provided a recap of the Town Hall Listening Session on 4/11 at Sylvan School pointing out that the commissioners and the planning director were invited but did not attend.The speaker also suggested that the County should be hosting listening sessions in Snow Camp themselves to hear our community’s concerns about the Quarry and other issues of concern to our community..
Outcomes:
- Following public comments, Commissioner Carter immediately made a motion to table the proposed amendments to the HIDO until the Board can get more/accurate information from legal counsel and the planning department about why 1500 feet was recommended by legal to the Planning Board instead of 2000 feet.
- Carter’s motion was followed by robust discussion between Board members and legal counsel which led to another motion by Commissioner Turner that was seconded by the Chairman and then passed. The motion tabled the controversial spacing amendments and sent them back to the planning board for further consideration while the other HIDO recommendations (not land spacing related) were passed. During the discussion, Commissioner Thompson forcefully stated that the Board has the responsibility to enforce the law and expressed her concern that the Board is not taking responsibility for the situation in Snow Camp as it should be. Commissioner Lashley then topped off the evening by making several forceful statements about the mine needing “to get its excrement together or get out. They’ve got to obey the law!”
- Another explosive moment was when Commissioner Pam Thomas accentuated one of her forceful comments ending with the word “KA-BOOM!” Which brought the house down. (Ya just had to be there 🙂
- Sheriff Johnson was in attendance and stated that he’d be taking action going forward. This was followed by discussion among the commissioners in reference to the noise ordinance (link) of issuing fines of up to $500 as the law allows.
It was a very lively and productive discussion for Snow Camp! And definitely worth a listen on the video. Thank you to all who made the time to show up for your neighbors – for our entire community. We are looking forward to further discussions with county staff, planning board members, and commissioners as we navigate our way to a resolution of these pervasive problems that continue to threaten the health and well being of our rural residential community.
Next step: Present our bare bones Snow Camp Rural Preservation District proposal to county staff and then get it passed into law!
Breaking news: Alamance County group pushed for zoning change as heavy industry grows by Keri Brown, WFDD, Politics and Government. April 19, 2022 https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2576210143353/alamance-county-group-pushes-for-zoning-change-as-heavy-industry-grows?s=ws_native
United we stand!
SnowCampCAN
Snow Camp Community Action Network
How you can help right now: We need need contributions to help us double down our engagement with our community, civic leaders and the news media. Please consider making a donation of any size here. You can also send a check to Snow Camp CAN, PO Box 714, Snow Camp NC. 27349