Planning board recommends denial of Tripp sand‑mine rezoning after residents raise water, noise and cemetery concerns

The Pitt County Planning Board on an acting‑chair vote recommended denying a rezoning request by applicant Bobby Tripp to allow a sand mine on an 85.35‑acre parcel (parcel 66309) on the south side of Grama Horn Road near its intersection with Cherry Lane Road.

Planning staff presented the request as a rezoning from Rural Agricultural (RA) to Rural Agricultural Conditional District to permit mining on about 25 acres of the property and said the proposal included a 6‑foot berm for screening, a proposed paved driveway for the first 200 feet off Rams Horn Road, and proposed hours of operation of 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Staff recommended approval with conditions including a site plan, state mining and erosion permits, a 50‑foot riparian buffer on streams unless exempted, and a 10‑foot easement for access to a small family cemetery on the site.

The board heard more than a dozen public comments. Neighbors cited concerns about groundwater and well water, truck traffic and road impacts, noise, property values and protection of the on‑site cemetery.

"My concern is today is, the health issue," said Lisa Adams Lucas, a resident who said family members live near the site. "People with health issues is not gonna be good for them to breathe in those toxins." Kelvin Creech, who lives about a half‑mile from the proposed site, asked the board to deny the request, saying, "My second concern is the water table. I have 180 feet deep well." Several other residents described family graves at the site and urged protection of the cemetery.

Applicant Bobby Tripp told the board the request at this stage was only for rezoning and that the state mining permit process would include engineering review. "No dewatering will take place on the sand mine," Tripp said. "All water will stay on‑site, so we can't figure a way that we would bother anybody's well without pumping water from the site." He also said the company does not propose blasting and described a long‑term plan to create a pond and later divide the property into roughly 10‑acre home sites after mining.

Planning staff (Jonas Hill, planning director) told the board the rezoning request was consistent with the Envision Pitt County 2045 land‑use plan and noted an existing, active sand mine nearby. Hill briefed the board on state and county conditions that would apply if the conditional district were approved, including state mining permits from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and a commercial driveway permit from NCDOT.

After discussion the board first rejected a motion to approve staff's recommendation; a subsequent motion to recommend denial carried. The board provided no recorded roll‑call tally in the hearing; its vote is a recommendation that will be considered by the Pitt County Board of Commissioners at a public hearing scheduled for November 17.

The rezoning application and staff packet note that the state mining permit and erosion controls are required before any site work, and that screening and setbacks listed in the Pitt County Zoning Ordinance would apply. The applicant proposed a 6‑foot berm as an alternative screening method and the sketch plan shown to the board excluded excavation within a buffer around the family cemetery; staff conditioned a 10‑foot legal access easement to the cemetery in the event the rezoning were approved.

The planning board's recommendation to deny does not itself prohibit the applicant from applying to the Board of Commissioners or from seeking state permits; it sends a negative recommendation to the Board of Commissioners, which will hold the next public hearing.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to recommend approval of staff's recommendation (to rezone parcel 66309 to RA conditional for a sand mine): motion failed (maker and second recorded in minutes; board voice vote). - Motion to recommend denial of the rezoning request by Bobby Tripp: motion carried (board raised‑hand vote); the recommendation will be forwarded to the Pitt County Board of Commissioners for a November 17 public hearing.

The board's staff packet and the applicant's sketch plan are included in the planning department record. The planning board advised members of the public that notices will be sent to property owners who received meeting notice for this hearing.