NOBLESVILLE — A Noblesville sand and gravel company is now moving forward with plans to expand their operations but not without a fight from residents.
The board of zoning appeals meeting on Monday night was packed with and protesters lining the sidewalks with signs outside.
Ultimately, the board voted 3 to 2 approving Beaver Materials request to re-zone land to build a gravel pit.
The petitioner is requesting a land use variance to allow the operation of a sand and gravel excavation site on the property for 10 years.
The site which was previously Zoned Residential is located on 68 acres near 161st street and Cherry Tree Road.
Residents at the meeting expressed their concerns about the impact on their health and property values.
"Im 68 years old" Noblesville resident Pamela Sasse said. "I don't want the last good 10 years of my life listening to heavy equipment banging and clanging and silica dust in the air breathing it. It's just wrong."
"I'm afraid of all the particles causing lung cancer and killing all the wildlife around there," Rita wood said.
Family owned business, Beaver Materials, was founded in 1949. The company has two other sites, one in Noblesville and one in Moorseville. Allyn Beaver, a retired owner of the company and father of the current owner says the gravel pit needs to be done.
"“It's a gravel pit but as far as being a liability to the people, it's really not. Mother nature put the gravel here, we dig it," Beaver said.
The approval comes with conditions, according to the city, which includes site watering to limit dust pollution and a prohibition on blasting or the use of explosives.
This isn't the first time Beaver Materials has proposed a gravel fit and faced backlash from Noblesville residents.
In 2022, The Noblesville Common Council rejected the company's proposed gravel pit from opening at Potter's Bridge Park.
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