To the Putnam County P&Z Commission and Board of Commissioners: We continue to oppose any acreage on Dennis Station Road being used for a quarry. The revised application is essentially “putting lipstick on a pig.”
Putnam Stone owner Hans Dawson claims numerous supportive paid studies, but studies can be pitched to reflect any point of view. He suggests “potential impacts to the surrounding properties will be neutral,” and the quarry will be “safe, non-intrusive and a benefit to the community.”
Will it? Their proposed “highest and best land use” is a subjective view. Adjacent residents within one or two miles (including us) would say the current timbering use is the “highest and best land use,” since it is not invasive, is sustainable, and remains environmentally valuable. A 75-plus-year quarry will never be neutral.
The revised application continues to state the proposed quarry is consistent with the vision of the Putnam County Joint Comprehensive Plan Updated 2022, but includes the clarification: “with a recommended minor reinterpretation of the 2022 Future Land Use map.”
As written, the current comprehensive plan does not include a quarry or an industrial corridor on Dennis Station Road. We feel the Putnam County P&Z Commission and Board of Commissioners should not even consider their creation being based on a “recommended minor reinterpretation of the 2022 Future Land Use map.”
No established pattern of industrial development exists in the vicinity, and no setback from the road will ever conceal the negative environmental, health, noise, and air pollution impacts to current and unborn residents of District 4 over the anticipated 75-plus years of operation for the requested quarry.
Dawson indicates a sense of urgency and legal validity to his request because he has entered into a binding contract with Weyerhaeuser for the subject property and mineral resources. Approving something this destructive in District 4 sets a precedent for similar proposals in Districts 1, 2, and 3.
The entire state of Georgia has substantial mineable granite deposits accessed by numerous existing granite quarries. So, there is no need to build a quarry in Putnam County to satisfy Dawson’s fictitious industrial demands and his contractual obligation.
While quarry operations may occur from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, the reality is that blasting will occur multiple times during the week, and hydraulic hammering will occur every day to reduce larger granite blocks into usable product.
We respectfully request that both the P&Z Board and the Board of Commissioners deny the quarry request based on numerous valid concerns and facts expressed by many Putnam County residents.
Sharon and James Cobb District 4 residents since 1999