More than 150 residents packed the Lake County Plan Commission meeting Wednesday to speak out against a sand mine operation proposed for Calumet Township.
They stood shoulder to shoulder in the commissioners’ courtroom at the Lake County Government Center in Crown Point only to learn that Walsh & Kelly Inc., the company seeking a zoning change from light industrial to conditional development district to allow the sand mine, along with a special exception to allow clean fill within a proposed sand mine after sand excavation is completed, requested a 30-day deferral.
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Walsh & Kelly is looking to site a sand mine at 1823 Elm St., in Calumet Township, about 8/10 of a mile east of Colfax Street on the south side of 49th Avenue, also known as Elm Street. The company already has cleared trees from the site.
Ned Kovachevich, planning director, said in August when the matter first came before the plan commission, planners had questions and wanted more information so they deferred the matter 30 days. Now Walsh & Kelly has exercised its right to do the same, he said. No one from the company attended the Plan Commission meeting.
“This will definitely be heard at a public hearing (in October),” he said, adding the plan commission is an advisory body and will make a recommendation on the zoning change request to the county council and on the special exception to the Board of Zoning Appeals. The meeting will take place at the Syd Garner Auditorium to accommodate the expected crowd, he said.
Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub, D-2nd, who sits on the plan commission, declined to allow public comment because the matter was deferred.
“I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize your position,” he said. Following the meeting he said his job is to represent people even if they are not in his district and he will continue to do so.
After the brief meeting, residents gathered on the front steps of the government center for an impromptu strategy rally led by Beth Villareal, who has been spearheading the efforts opposing the sand mine.
“It’s time to be heard. Calumet Township is not going to be a dumping ground for anyone who wants to dump anymore,” Villareal said to cheers.
She urged those who came out to return Oct. 21 for the public hearing and passed out contact information for local officials so opponents could let their thoughts be heard.
Earlier Villareal said current zoning code says quarries and borough pits shall not be approved within a 1,000 feet of a neighborhood.
“Now I’ve been told that because it doesn’t specifically say ‘sand mine’ that it might be up for interpretation,” she said. “But they can’t use our neighborhood for a dumping site.”
Lake County Councilmen Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, and Jamal Washington, D-Merrillville, also were in the audience.
“I’m here just to get information because it ultimately will come back to the county council,” Dernulc said. Even though the proposed sand mine is not in his district, the councilman said he has been getting a lot of calls about it.
Washington said he, too, was there to follow the proceedings and gather information.
“My No. 1 priority is always going to be public safety,” Washington said.
Earlier Wednesday the Lake County Drainage Board deferred consideration on of an application by Walsh & Kelly to build a bridge across Turkey Creek drain to access its Calumet Township property where it plans to operate a sand mine.
The drainage board, which is comprised of the three county commissioners, voted unanimously to defer the matter to the board’s Oct. 21 meeting, but Scheub opened the floor to public comment as a handful of residents were on hand to speak against the project.
Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.