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Scofield council amends land-use code to prohibit mining in agricultural zone
Summary
At a May 19 public hearing, the Scofield Town Council approved an amendment to Table 2 of the town’s land-use ordinance to change extraction/mining from a special-use allowance to a prohibited use in the agricultural zone, applying only within town limits.
Scofield Town Council voted May 19, 2025, to amend the town’s land-use ordinance to prohibit extraction and mining activities in the municipal agricultural zone, removing mining as an allowed special use within town limits.
Council leaders said the change is intended to close what they described as a loophole that previously allowed mining in the agricultural zone by special-use permit. The amendment moves “extraction of sand, gravel, earth, stone, gas, minerals, petroleum or similar resources” in Table 2 (use item 132) from a conditional/special-use classification to “not allowed” in the agricultural zone.
During a brief public hearing and discussion, speakers explained the change would limit what mining companies can operate on property inside Scofield’s municipal boundaries and would not affect county land outside the town. The council noted that if a future applicant still sought mining inside town limits, the applicant would need a zone change — and that, the council said, would require creating and defining an industrial zone and the uses and conditions for that zone. The meeting chair said the amendment is intended to “close that particular loophole in our ordinances.”
Council members and staff described several surface operations now located inside the town, including a warehouse, office building, shops and a coal loadout, and said the ordinance change will constrain what additional surface operations can be established on town property. Council discussion also noted the town’s limited ability to regulate operations located outside town limits; County-regulated parcels would remain under county authority.
A council member asked how far land outside town limits begins; a municipal speaker replied, “It’s not very far. It’s like a hundred feet.” The council asked staff to make a map available showing the town/county boundary as it relates to the mine operations.
A motion to adopt the amendment to Table 2 (use item 132) was moved and seconded, and passed on a voice vote. Individual roll-call tallies were not recorded in the meeting transcript.
The council closed the public hearing and approved the ordinance amendment at approximately 7:00 p.m. The amendment applies only to the portions of land inside Scofield Town limits; county-owned or county-regulated parcels outside those limits are unaffected by this change.
