ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. (WTVF) — On Tuesday, an Ashland City council meeting heard from neighbors of a controversial rock quarry that they say has been operating illegally for two years and is now requesting a property rezoning.
The Walker Trucking & Excavating company owns the quarry, which has apparently been working on property that is zoned as residential. Now, the company is seeking rezoning permissions after years of noisy and disruptive operations — a rezoning that would allow it to continue its operations without legal dispute.
Many issues were raised and grievances aired from a community of people who say their lives have been made worse by the actions of the Walker Quarry.
Neighbors of the quarry implored the council to vote against the proposed rezoning.
One public safety issue raised stems from the big, lumbering trucks transporting to and from the quarry. According to speakers at the council meeting, the trucks frequently come to complete stops in the middle of highway 12, and the residents fear deadly accidents could result.
"We want you to consider all of the public safety and what we're all going through," said Sherri Raymer, a neighbor to the quarry.
"I wouldn't want that on my shoulders if someone gets killed in that spot because these trucks are running in and out on a major highway," said resident Gayle Watts.
Some appealed to the council's legal duties to maintain the area's peace and quality of life. Others made more emotional, personal pleas for the council's consideration.
"All the residents have been here time and time again pleading — pleading — with you guys to not rezone this; it was a nice neighborhood and this has been going on for two years," said Watts.
"I came here to spend my senior years in peace, quiet, and tranquility. This expectation has been destroyed," said neighbor Sandra Braden. "What is the future for our community if the rezoning is approved? There are unscheduled dynamite blasts for excavation of the rock undermining my house and my peace of mind. There is constant, dawn to dusk, seven-days-a-week disturbance by the rock smashing process. No possibility of sleeping past 6:30 a.m., ever."
Katie Biggs lives two blocks away from the quarry and said that the daily blasting makes her job difficult. She works from home, and the disturbances from the past two years have been especially vexing.
"I hear all the blasting; it shakes my house. It literally shakes the foundation. It's got to be doing damage to the structure of my house. I've seen cracks in the bricks and the mortar around the bricks; we've got cracks in our driveway," said Biggs. "Who's going to be responsible for this damage to my house?
Neighbors said they hope that the council will consider their pleas in tandem with the written parameters of their legislative obligations.
"And in your actual code, it says that 'the property maintenance standards program is designed to maintain a high level of property maintenance standards and reduce or eliminate undesirable nuisances, hazards, and effects associated with blighting,'" Watts read aloud. "'Blighting' is severely detrimental effects on property."
Neighbor Amy Cooke emphasized that what she and her fellow community members want is not to ask their local government to bend rules for their preferences. Quite the opposite.
"Just uphold the zoning! That's all you need to do, is uphold the zoning. It never should have come to this," Cooke said.
Others who spoke at the meeting wished to represent Ashland City residents who did not live in the neighborhood but still cared about their fellow community members.
One speaker, Lynn Williams, said she lived in Nashville but wanted to represent her parents in Ashland City. She said their quality of life had also significantly worsened. She said she had videos of dust covering their cars from the explosions at the quarry.
"They bought their home knowing that the lot next to them — the hill next to them — was zoned residential," Williams said. "My parents can no longer have meals on their screened-in porch in the back; my mother cannot raise the windows anymore because it's covered in dust."
Williams said the quarry represented a significant number of personal health concerns. She said a rock hit her mother in the scalp, and the constant noise caused trouble. She also said her ability to visit her parents was affected because her asthma caused her throat to close up after too much time spent in the dusty atmosphere.
"There are physical and emotional effects including anxiety, sleep deprivation and environmental concerns regarding the air, soil, and so on," said Braden. "Despite these issues previously expressed by the residents, the city council is considering the possibility of allowing Mr. Walker's property to be rezoned. We need our representatives to represent us. We need our representatives to say no to rezoning."
"We are all asking you in that area as citizens to please vote no," Watts said.
