Residents express concern about rock yard near Kennedy area as county approves road-rocking contract

Residents from the Open Branch, Red Bank and Maple Ridge areas told Colleton County Council on Tuesday they oppose a proposed rock yard near the Kennedy area and asked the council where they should seek help to stop or limit the project.

"The dust, the noise, the traffic is gonna be very detrimental to our area," Audrey Anderson told the council during public comment. Anderson said community members had raised the issue at a December meeting and asked what the next steps were and which agencies to contact.

Council members referred the public to staff for procedural guidance and noted that the council had just approved a contract award for rock placement on a county road. The chairman and other members said the road-rocking contract is funded with state money that is passed through the county and that the county’s vote was an administrative approval of spending; they did not describe county authority to approve or deny private storage of rock material in the Kennedy area.

The council voted unanimously that same meeting to award the rock placement contract and other transportation-related contracts. Several council members emphasized the county’s limited role when funds originate with state programs and are routed through county processes.

No staff or council action to change or block the rock yard was recorded in the meeting transcript. Council members told residents the appropriate next steps would be handled by staff and by the agencies that oversee land use and permits; no specific permitting agency or timeline was listed on the record.