Planning board approves major amendment to Route 9 gravel pit with strict monitoring, blasting and insurance conditions

The Keene Planning Board voted to approve a major amendment to an earth‑excavation permit and a hillside‑protection conditional‑use permit for an expanded gravel pit on Route 9 (PB-2024-20), adding a package of conditions addressing erosion control, groundwater monitoring, blasting monitoring, reclamation and insurance.

The applicant, Granite Engineering LLC, on behalf of owner G2 Holdings LLC, sought to expand an existing operation on two parcels that together total roughly 109 acres in the rural district and requested waivers from several Land Development Code provisions, including the 250‑foot surface‑water setback, prohibitions on toxic/acid‑forming materials and the five‑acre excavation maximum. Planning staff and outside consultants had previously reviewed the application and the board continued deliberations on conditions at the special meeting.

After the board’s initial motion to approve, members proposed and adopted several additional, specific conditions by amendment. Key conditions added in the final approval include:

- Precedence and security: submission of owner signatures, final plan sets (paper and digital), and sufficient security to cover sedimentation/erosion control, stormwater…