Quarry owner tries again for expansion

Neighbors opposed

By TOM KANE

LACKAWAXEN, PA - For the second time in a month, the Lackawaxen Township Board will hold a public hearing on a request for a conditional use permit to expand the Holbert Brothers’ quarry on Plank Road.

The first meeting, which was held on March 11, started late and lasted late and precipitated the township and the petitioner to come back to a second public hearing on April 10 at 5:30 p.m. in the township municipal building.

The hearing is open to the public.

The March 11 hearing was attended by a large group of neighbors who protested the expansion, citing that it would generate more noise with the use of explosives, as well as the increase in large truck traffic on the narrow road that runs parallel to the Delaware River.

The quarry has two existing five-acre mining permits from both the township and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The request is to expand those acres into 40.

“We won’t be working on the entire 40 acres but a smaller portion,” said Wayne Holbert, owner of the quarry. “However, it makes sense to ask for the entire 40 acres, since we don’t want to have to go to the township every time we want to expand. The most we will be working on is 15 acres at a time.”

Another reason for the plan to work on a small section at a time is that it would be very expensive to secure a bond for the entire 40 acres.

Holbert said that the opposition by his neighbors was selfish since they don’t provide jobs for residents like the quarry expansion will. The expansion will result in about four new employees with an additional three by a lessee, he said.

“My neighbors have no reason to fear,” he said. “They are acting irrationally. There will be minimal additional traffic noise. They won’t be able to see the quarry site nor hear any activity. We will use explosives once every two or three weeks and it will last about five or six seconds in a day. Some of the neighbors don’t know why they’re against it. They’re just against any construction.”

Holbert said the company offers a necessary service for businesses that will encourage them to operate in the area. “There is a large demand for aggregate, which is a stone we will produce here,” he said. The production of landscape stone is Holbert’s main operation, but a by-product is rubble stone that is used for home foundations and road beds. This is the product that will come from the expansion.

The Upper Delaware Council sent a letter to the township board, asking that the permit not be issued and stating that it violates the 1986 River Management Plan (RMP) for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River. (See related story on page 5).

The township board made no comment on the letter but will take it up at the meeting on April 10.

Lackawaxen Township Board chair Brian Stuart would not comment as the issue was not settled. “I’ll make a statement after the public hearing,” he said.

The quarry was started by the Holbert Brothers’ great-grandfather, George Holbert, in 1865. “We’ve been here a very long time,” he said.

Holbert said that he expected to get the permit since it was good for the township.