- April 25, 2024
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The Flagler County Planning and Development Board has approved a forestry company's proposal to add a borrow pit on a 410-acre parcel at 3775 County Road 205.
Borrow pits on county agricultural land require a "special exception" process requiring planning board approval — a higher level of review than proposals which would simply go before a county staff technical review committee.
The borrow pit on Rayonier company land would be some 26 acres, and the soil removed from it would be used offsite.
The land had been previously used for soil extraction and received approval for that in 2004 and 2014, but in a smaller area and limited to a depth of 15 feet.
The proposed site avoids conservation areas and wetlands, county Growth Management Director Adam Mengel told planning board members at an Oct. 12 board meeting.
"You can see why this site was optimal for that use back in 2004, in 2014, and why it works for us now," Mengel said. Board members had concerns about the pit's effects on neighbors.
"There's going to be a lot of trucks — 100 trucks a day, possibly more," board member Mark Langello said.
The county will restrict the borrow pit's operations to daytime hours, because its haul-way backs up to homes in Espanola, Mengel said.
Board members approved it, with one member, Timothy Conner, abstaining due to a prior business relationship with the applicants.
