Tooele County tables North Bauer gravel-pit permit, asks for broader traffic review

The Tooele County Commission tabled consideration of CUP2023-116, a conditional use permit for a proposed gravel-pit operation identified as the North Bauer Pit, and asked that the applicant pursue access approvals with the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) while the county council consider commissioning a comprehensive traffic study that covers full future growth in the area.

Planning staff member Trish Nicole introduced the application, describing the site as a roughly 100-acre property in the Bauer area where the applicant (identified in the record as Staker Parsons) proposes a five-phase gravel extraction operation. Nicole told commissioners the applicant will build half of Third Road adjacent to the property as a condition and that reviewing agencies had recommended approval subject to conditions: bonding before each phase, submission of state permit renewals to staff upon expiration, and updating the five-year mine plan before it expires.

Commissioners expressed safety and traffic concerns tied to heavy truck access on the existing gravel route and near blind intersections. Several commissioners said the traffic study submitted with the CUP did not explicitly call for acceleration or deceleration lanes at the proposed access and questioned whether UDOT would require turn/acceleration lanes given the site’s proximity to other pits and industrial traffic. Planning staff advised that UDOT would have authority to require intersection improvements and that the county could condition approval on UDOT acceptance or require the applicant secure written approval from UDOT before operations begin.

Following discussion, Commissioner Scott moved to table the CUP until the August business meeting and asked that the applicant pursue UDOT review of access and that the county council consider hiring a countywide traffic study that accounts for full buildout and future growth in the area; Commissioner Dow seconded. Commissioners voted unanimously to table the item.

The tabling decision instructs staff and the applicant to pursue coordination with UDOT on intersection treatments and directs the county council to evaluate whether the county should commission its own traffic analysis that aggregates impacts from multiple industrial operations in the Bauer area. The CUP remains tabled pending those follow-up actions; no permit was approved or denied at this meeting.

Speakers quoted in this article are limited to the meeting participants listed in the transcript.