By Pat Jenkins
The Dispatch
Another round of public discussion last week of the proposed Rim Rock gravel quarry near Eatonville went pretty much the same way as the first two: Explanations of why it should be allowed, countered by claims of why it shouldn’t.
The latest hearing, held May 17 in Tacoma, was scheduled after the one conducted April 20 in Eatonville generated questions that Pierce County hearing examiner Steve Causseaux decided tbe project applicant, Randles Sand and Gravel, should be given time to answer.
Causseaux, who has presided over the hearings, will eventually decide if the county will issue a conditional-use permit for Randles to remove hundreds of thousands of tons a year of rock and other material from the 762-acre quarry by truck and train.
The site is about two miles outside of Eatonville in an unincorporated area of the county.
Trucks hauling material from the quarry and making return trips to the site would use Lynch Creek Road, 129th Avenue East and State Route 161, passing through county areas and the northeast part of the town.
People who live near the roads that the trucks would travel daily have been joined by the Town of Eatonville and the Eatonville School District in criticizing what they described as negative impacts of the project.
As they’ve been throughout the review of Randles’ plans, many of the concerns at last week’s hearing dealt with environmental impacts such as noise, as well as traffic safety. According to the county’s Planning and Public Works Department, conditions that the county is placing on the project, and that must be met before permits are issued, will adequately address those issues.
Randles, the school district and the town were represented at last week’s hearing. Several private citizens also attended.
One of Randles’ representatives said the Rim Rock project won’t “ruin” the quiet, rural character of the nearby community or the lifestyles of its residents.
But making that claim “doesn’t mean it’s true,” said Kevin Reding, who lives on Lynch Creek Road and is worried about the truck noise and traffic.
Another representative of the company said that while the prospect of its trucks making regular trips are “alarming” to people living near those streets, he noted that the vehicles will have skilled, safe drivers. He also said road improvements required by the county, including a left-turn lane for SR-161 at the intersection with Lynch Creek Road, will help keep traffic moving and improve safety.
But the school district remained concerned about the effect of trucks on Lynch Creek Road passing Eatonville Elementary School and nearby school district sports fields approximately 80 to 100 times a day. The trips would be roughly eight minutes apart.
School Board member Jeff Lucas said the district still wants railroad cars to be the main method of hauling gravel from the quarry. That would diminish the “tremendous impact” of truck trips, he said.
A rail line near the quarry has been discussed by Randles as a way of transporting 300,000 tons of gravel and rocks per year starting at some point in the first five years of the quarry, but trucking is the company’s preferred choice to start.
Krestin Bahr, the school district’s superintendent, said the proposed project has created a “dilemma” of a “well-intentioned business” wanting to transform a previously peaceful roadway into a “haul road,” a use she said isn’t compatible with a school where children and families come and go at the same time trucks are rumbling by.
A timeline hasn't been set for when the county hearing examiner will issue a decision on Randles' request for a conditional-use permit. During last week's hearing, he directed representatives of Randles, the school district and the town to hold discussions of conditions requested by school and town officials. A meeting may be scheduled in June, according to the Planning and Public Works Department.
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