Here’s where a big, deep quarry and a new cell tower could go in York County
A new quarry could go down and a cell tower up in York County, pending key county decisions.
Both decisions come to the county zoning board of appeals when that group meets Jan. 13.
The Colinas Group of Florida has applied for a special exception that would permit a quarry at the intersection of Benfield and McFarland roads in unincorporated York. The 371-acre site is home to a working cattle farm and a 34-acre topsoil, sand and clay mining operation.
The permit would allow an open pit at 100 acres and a total development of 254 acres. Plans are to remove overburden and rock that could be used for construction in one phase, according to the special exception application submitted by Colinas Group, and then to expand the first pit. The applicant proposes a 400-foot-deep site the produces 500,000-800,000 tons of aggregate each year. The operation could produce 50-70 million tons during the life of the mine.
Omarr LLC runs the existing mining operation. The company got its special exception in 2015. It was limited to 34 acres and 20 feet of depth. Mining rock was prohibited. Prior to the Omarr project, the site had an unpermitted South Carolina Department of Transportation mine. SCDOT used 10 acres and was exempt from the permit requirement. Prior approvals state the SCDOT and Omarr mines would be returned to grassland once those projects were complete.
A separate South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control application is pending. That application was submitted Dec. 13.
If approved, the new mining operation could begin June 1. Rock blasting will break rock into smaller bits before trucks take it to a crusher to be washed and stockpiled.
York County staff recommends that the zoning board deny the application. There have been, according to information presented to the appeals board by county planners, “a great deal of calls and emails expressing vehement opposition” to the quarry.
Also on Thursday’s zoning board agenda is an application for a 165-foot communications pole at 470 N. Paraham Road, between Lake Wylie and Clover. Cellco Partnership and Verizon Wireless applied for the tower. The applicant asked for a special exception to avoid the camouflage design requirement for poles that height.
The property there is almost 69 acres. It’s south of S.C. 557. There are homes to the west of the property. The tower would be about 500 feet from Paraham, next to a Duke Energy transmission line.
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 10:49 AM.
