D.M. Conner quarry expansion vote delayed by Augusta Board of Zoning Appeals.

VERONA – Benny Conner looked at the 100 feet of woods on top of a graded hill.

On one side, the bottom of the hill, was his active quarry. The other side was untouched land. His permit required a 100-foot buffer along this section of quarry's edge and the adjoining property.

“I started thinking, well, we own this side, why do we need a hundred-foot buffer?” Conner told The News Leader. “We own both sides.”

He started digging.

It’s been six years since the decision and the ramifications echoed into the May 2 meeting of the Augusta County Board of Zoning Appeals. D.M. Conner now wants to quarry an untouched 35 acres on property he owns.

Before the meeting, Benny Conner told The News Leader he was worried. His stock of concrete sand, an essential ingredient in the slurry that becomes concrete, was running low.

“These pavement companies, they want a thousand tons a week,” Conner told The News Leader. “How am I going to do it? I have masonry sand, but they don’t want masonry sand. They want concrete sand. I need rock to grind up into concrete sand.”

Conner arrived with Sharon Conner and Debbie Henderson, stopping to speak with a few people on the way into the Government Center meeting room. Steve Driver with Terra Engineering arrived. Driver would soon speak on behalf of the D.M. Conner at the beginning of the public hearing.

As they stood outside, Derek Hutchinson passed by, acknowledging the quarry owners, before going inside and taking a seat. Hutchinson is one of several residents of Gerties Lane, a road adjacent to the quarry, fighting against every move D.M. Conner makes before the Augusta County government boards. Earlier this year, the residents pushed the Augusta County Board of Supervisors to expand quarry setbacks up from 200 feet to 500 feet.

“We are simply asking you to protect our property, our quality of life, happiness, and the safety of our families," said Hutchinson said during the January public hearing. "Then I ask you to put yourself in our situation. Imagine you wake up, you make a cup of coffee, you look out your back porch, and 66 yards from your back door is an excavator or a 20-foot hauler. Put your children or your grandchildren in the shoes of my children. What does that mean to you? What anxiety does that bring to you?"

Tensions between D.M. Conner and the residents had cooled some after a deal was struck between the two. Conner and Henderson were agreeable to submitting a new special use permit, withdrawing part of the quarry further away from two homes, while allowing them to expand into the 35 acres of previously denied land. The deal killed the quarry setback increase ordinance.

The public hearing began after 20 minutes of other public hearings.

Typical of the process, the board’s staff offered recommendations for the special use permit, such as confining truck traffic to Route 660 when entering the site, barring truck traffic on Sycamore Path and Oak Lane, only allowing excavating at the site, and prohibiting mining within 500 feet of the Cole Campers subdivision. D.M. Conner understood the application, Driver told the Board.

“Is there anyone to speak in favor of the request?” asked Chair George A. Coyner II. No one came forward.

“Is there anyone to speak in opposition to the request?” he followed up, and Gerties Lane residents indicated yes.

First was Shayla Branch, who attended the meetings earlier this year.

“This seems like a simple ask, but believe me, for the residents surrounding this quarry, this is not,” said Branch. “We have been in front of the board of zoning and the board of supervisors many times to make you aware of the issues up there.”

This was the first mention of Benny Conner’s 2018 decision to dig.

"They have negligently mined out the 100-foot setback that the county set forth and started digging on the attached property,” Branch said. She asked the board to deny the expanded quarry application, “You cannot continue them to ask for forgiveness instead of permission.”

Branch, Hutchinson, and Melissa Golladay each pointed to the company digging out of compliance with the permit and land that still needed to be reclaimed to argue against the permit. Branch asked the board to not issue any permits until D.M. Conner followed the current permits.

In the past several years, D.M. Conner has been a frequent applicant to the BZA, having permits denied in March 2017 and June 2019 and one approved in September 2021. In each of these, Branch, Hutchinson, and Melissa Golladay raised safety concerns.

Conner explained he could run out of stone to grind into concrete sand to the board, asking again for approval or to only have the hearing pushed out 30 days.

The board kept its focus on the permits.

"It is somewhat concerning that we would possibly consider issuing a new one at this time, until everything else is brought up to speed,” said boardmember Monica Rutledge. “I would almost be inclined to push this out.”

“It is kind of concerning when you're asking for more and you haven't really done what you should have with what you currently have,” agreed Coyner.

The board unanimously agreed to push the application 60 days, to the July BZA meeting. Next month, the board will consider an amendment to the ongoing quarry permit, allowing Conner to dig in the 100-foot buffer once again. Only after that permit — and the state of its compliance — is considered will the board then take up the new 35 acres.

After the decision, Benny Conner spoke to The News Leader outside. Conner's father and brother used to deal with all the permits for the business while Benny was on the road. After both died, he took the reins on this part of the business without fully understanding it.

"If there is a future where I buy more land, I know there’s a buffer zone there and I got to come here and get everything in writing before I dig up a buffer zone," Conner said.

"We make mistakes, we're only human," Henderson said.

Conner worried the decision would impact local construction projects and contractors, many of whom have already entered into contracts based on the prices and stock Conner thought he would have available.

“If they would’ve stuck to the 30 days, assigned it next month, and approved it, then I could keep concrete sand going,” Conner said. “Now that it’s going to be 60 days, I’m going to run out of rock.”

There will be opposition in both hearings.

“The real battle will be the sixth of next month,” Hutchinson told The News Leader after the meeting. “D.M. Connor and Acres Sand and Stone will be asking for forgiveness for digging what they should not have. As you can imagine, we will be there in force.”

Lyra Bordelon (she/her) is the public transparency and justice reporter at The News Leader. Do you have a story tip or feedback? It’s welcome through email to lbordelon@gannett.com. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: D.M. Conner quarry expansion vote delayed by Augusta Board of Zoning Appeals.