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Planning commission recommends conditional‑use permit for Gray brothers’ sand borrow pit with buffers, hours and tree‑planting conditions
Summary
The Southampton County Planning Commission recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve a conditional‑use permit for a sand borrow pit on Smiths Ferry Road, imposing minimum 100‑foot vegetated buffers, evening‑hour limits with emergency exceptions, and a requirement to establish and maintain a loblolly‑pine buffer.
The Southampton County Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve a conditional‑use permit allowing a sand borrow pit on a roughly 65‑acre reserve mining area fronting U.S. Route 258 (Smiths Ferry Road). Applicants Mitchell B. Gray and Alex J. Gray said the pit would supply local construction and public‑works projects and that they intend staged mining with reclamation to a recreational pond at the end of operations.
Planning staff identified the application as conditional use permit 2025‑02 for tax parcel 118‑31 and noted the site’s location about 450 feet north of Forks of the River Road. The applicants told the commission the initial mining footprint would be approximately 15–20 acres in the center of the parcel, with a reserve area of about 65 acres available for later phases. They proposed a new entrance on Smiths Ferry Road with at least 500 feet of sight line in each direction and said they have discussed access with VDOT.
The applicants described past and planned reclamation work at other sites and said they stock fish and wildlife as part of phased reclamation. Mitchell Gray estimated the Hancock operation they currently run has lasted eight to nine years for an approximately 30‑acre pit and said a 60‑acre site “maybe 16 years” at similar extraction rates. Gray also said his fleet typically operates seven dump trucks and that on an ordinary workday may move roughly three loads per truck — roughly 28 loads per day at full activity.
The application drew more than an hour of public comment. Neighbors and community speakers cited a 2008 economic study on gravel/quarry impacts before several planning‑commission members and warned that nearby residential property values could decline (study figures read into the record described reductions of roughly 20% at a half‑mile and 14.5% at one mile in a different county). Speakers also raised flood‑risk and safety concerns, the potential for dust and noise, and the proximity of a historically black community that residents said has invested in their properties for generations.
Commission discussion ranged from highway access and required VDOT approvals to hours of operation and emergency exceptions. The applicants said they typically operate Monday through Thursday on four‑10 schedules with a half‑day Friday and few weekend operations; they said they do supply sand under contract to VDOT and municipalities for winter traction and for emergency needs (flood response, fire containment), and asked for an emergency‑hours exception for such calls.
After debate the commission attached conditions to its recommendation: a minimum 100‑foot vegetated buffer on the north, south and west property lines (the commission noted the Department of Energy / Division of Mines standards will also apply and that the greater standard should govern), a prohibition on mining after 7 p.m. except when extended due to documented emergency municipal needs, and a requirement that the buffer area be established and maintained with loblolly pine plantings. Commissioners also specified that staging, stockpiling and equipment should be located within the reserve mining area and that access, off‑site truck routing and site signage be governed by conditions and VDOT permit review.
The commission’s vote was divided but resulted in a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors to approve the conditional‑use permit with the listed proffers. Planning staff said the Board of Supervisors will receive the recommendation at its March meeting and that the permit would be subject to state mining and reclamation rules administered by Virginia Energy (Division of Mines and Minerals) and local site‑plan review before mining activity could begin.
Opponents indicated they will present the commission record and local impacts to the board. The applicant said he is willing to meet neighbors on site to review buffers and reclamation plans before the board meeting.
