Wagoner County commissioners deny conditional‑use request for sand‑mining operation near State Highway 72

Wagoner County Board of Commissioners — May (date on file) — The Wagoner County Board of Commissioners on Monday considered an appeal of a conditional‑use permit request from R.J. Sands to operate a sand‑mining operation on a parcel near State Highway 72 and voted to deny the request after an extended public hearing and comment period.

The applicant sought conditional use to operate a mining operation on a 60‑acre parcel; planning staff said roughly 27 acres would be used because portions of the parcel lie in a floodplain. The item was appealed to the commission after the county planning commission recommended denial.

Neighbors and property owners spoke against the proposal, citing dust, truck traffic, potential damage to county roads, flood risks and possible impacts to private wells and nearby sod farms. Robert Getchell, attorney for Tulsa Sod and Mulch owner James Moran, told commissioners the farm had invested about $500,000 in 13 permitted wells and that “the mining operation … threatens that water supply,” saying the applicant planned a pit deeper than the wells’ intake and that groundwater would flow to the lowest point. Other residents described repeated local…