Planning board approves O'Brien Ready Mix CUP after extended public opposition and discussion of litigation

The Washington County Planning Board on Oct. 30 approved a high‑intensity conditional use permit for O'Brien Ready Mix following an extended public hearing in which dozens of neighbors and several attorneys testified for and against the application.

Planning staff described the proposal as a 4.5‑acre concrete‑mixing operation on a 7.42‑acre tract, with proposed hours generally beginning early in the morning, 10 full‑time employees and 4–6 mixer trucks moving on business days. Staff said 91 property notifications were mailed and that the county had received 72 emails/letters and roughly 338 petition signatures in opposition, with additional support letters and petitions submitted by the applicant.

The public record at the hearing was dominated by residents who said the facility is too close to homes, Bob Kidd Lake and other local water features and that concrete batching and related truck traffic would harm air quality, water quality, wildlife and property values. Kimberly Fuller, who owns 16 acres on Bob Kidd Lake near the proposed site, said crystalline silica and other dust can travel “up to 5 miles” and described respiratory and water‑quality risks, while other residents said karst geology in the area increases groundwater vulnerability.

“Concrete batching is a dirty, dusty, noisy, messy business,” Fuller told the board and urged denial on health and environmental grounds. Several residents said they had submitted petitions totaling several hundred signatures.

O'Brien’s attorney, John Scott, told the board that there is existing litigation related to an O'Brien facility in Benton County but said certain zoning and annexation claims had been dismissed by the court. Scott and the applicant’s engineering consultant presented test results and professional reports they said showed onsite measurements (sound, particulate and pH) at an existing facility were within federal and state limits; they offered multiple mitigation commitments for the proposed site, including a detention pond with treated and recycled water, a dust abatement plan, perimeter trees, a photometric plan to prevent off‑site light spill and stormwater permits required by ADEQ.

Attorney Steve Zaga, representing neighbors in the Benton County litigation, told the board the lawsuit also includes nuisance claims addressing dust, noise and lighting at an existing O'Brien facility. At the hearing, Zaga said those allegations are part of the record in that litigation and that the nuisance concerns informed neighbors’ opposition in Washington County.

Applicant representatives offered to include water‑quality treatment in the detention pond, to employ a stormwater pollution prevention plan and to provide photometric and noise studies at the large‑scale development stage. The applicant said no large outdoor shredding would occur, that much processing would be enclosed, and that peak sound levels measured at another facility were in the mid‑50‑decibel range.

After questioning from board members about hours, visibility, traffic and whether monitoring and permits would be required, a board member moved to approve the CUP with the applicant’s stated conditions. Roll call showed Micah Thompson, Robert Daughtery, Marla Pearson, Jay Piercy and Chair Lauren Sheckleford voting yes; the motion carried 5–0.

The board emphasized that many operational details — hours of operation, exact entrance and driveway design, noise and lighting controls, and stormwater/runoff mitigation — will be addressed in the large‑scale development review and through state permits (ADEQ) and ARDOT requirements if access improvements are required. Neighbors and their attorneys said they may pursue appeals or enforcement through other channels; the Benton County litigation remains a separate court action referenced during the hearing.

Because the CUP allows the applicant to proceed to the large‑scale development stage, the board’s approval does not itself permit construction — the applicant must still provide detailed plans and obtain the necessary state and county permits before site work begins.