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Board approves renewal for Trivet Properties gravel operation with clarified conditions
Summary
The Caroline County Board of Zoning Appeals approved a special-use renewal for Trivet Properties’ gravel extraction facility at 8636 Tuckahoe Road, removing a five-year reapproval requirement but keeping dust-control, hours-of-operation, signage and a 50-truck limit with a process for authorized temporary increases.
The Caroline County Board of Zoning Appeals on Oct. 15 approved a renewal of a special-use exemption for a sand-and-gravel extraction facility operated by Trivet Properties LLC at 8636 Tuckahoe Road.
The board’s action, moved and seconded during the meeting, requires the applicant to obtain final site-plan approval from the county planning commission and to secure any necessary building permits and a copy of the Maryland Department of the Environment surface-mining permit before development resumes. It also preserves several operational conditions: a posted 10-mile-per-hour sign on the access lane, specified business hours and a 50-truck daily limit with a process to authorize temporary increases for verified large projects.
“The applicant shall submit a written dust-control plan,” staff recommended, and the board explicitly retained dust-control requirements tied to the state MDE permit. Matt Kaczynski, the county’s assistant director of development review, told the board the operation originally received state permits before the county’s current ordinance and has been before the board several times in 2010, 2014 and 2019. Kaczynski recommended removing an outdated five-year automatic reapproval condition so the operation only returns if it proposes a substantive change.
Applicant David Truett Sr., who testified the operation is a family business and primarily a supplier for contractors and state projects, said the site had very few days with heavy truck volume in the past year and that washing operations use on-site pond water. “We don’t hire outside people to do any work; this is strictly just for extraction purposes,” Truett said in his testimony, adding that he and family members run the operation and aim to minimize dust and noise impacts.
Board members questioned the applicant about hours, Saturday washing activity and whether the 10-mph signage was posted; Truett confirmed he would post the sign and said Saturday work would be limited to morning washing for preparation, not trucking. The board also agreed to keep the 50-truck limit while retaining a mechanism requiring a contractor’s letter for temporary increases above that number.
The board’s decision was announced from the bench and approved by voice vote. The approval is conditioned on compliance with the items in the staff report and the planning commission’s final site-plan requirements. The applicant must submit required documentation to county planning and codes before receiving a zoning certificate or building permit.
